Monday, January 29, 2018

Abigail Carroll

Abigail Carroll is the Pastor of Arts and Spiritual Formation with Church at the Well in Burlington, Vermont, and has taught in Boston University’s Writing Program. Her first poetry collection Habitation of Wonder has just been published as part of the Poiema Poetry Series from Cascade Books. I value the experience of having assisted her as editor.

Her previous books include A Gathering of Larks: Letters to Saint Francis from a Modern-Day Pilgrim (2017, Eerdmans) and Three Squares: The Invention of the American Meal (2013, Basic Books). Her writing has appeared in periodicals such as New York Times, Boston Globe, and Wall Street Journal.

The following is from Habitation of Wonder (2018, Cascade Books).

That I Might Dwell


That I might dwell in warbler
song, in fields of sorrel, fields
of stars, that dwelling in your
house I’d know, I’d rest, I’d play
at wonder. Oh that I might dwell

in pine-branched shade, among
the sway, among the praise of oak-
fern, granite, jay nest, spruce—
among the shadow-dance of leaves,
the breeze unpinning doubt, all

apathy, all hollow hours, all fears.
Oh may I dwell in reverence here,
and dwelling in your house, I’ll
wait, I’ll pray, I’ll lay this body
down on what you’ve dreamed,

on what you’ve sung, spliced, spun,
twined, embroidered, breathed.
And dwelling in your house I’ll
know the peace of moss, the moth-
winged hush of unhinged awe,

musk of sage, gaze of deer. Oh let
me lose myself in rooms of fox-
glove, cowslip, wild plum, wren—
that I might taste the sleep of loam,
that I might tenant beauty here.

Posted with permission of the poet.

This is the first Kingdom Poets post about Abigail Carroll: second post.

Entry written by D.S. Martin. His latest poetry collection is Conspiracy of Light: Poems Inspired by the Legacy of C.S. Lewis. His books are available through Amazon, and Wipf & Stock including the anthologies The Turning Aside, and Adam, Eve, & the Riders of the Apocalypse.