Sunday, April 24, 2011

Easter Sunday, 2011

Reading the "Daily Prayer of Father Parfeny of Kiev" on Martin Turner's Weblog, I realized I don't think of prayer as between self and God. I found myself editing "Grant me that purity of spirit...which makes us worthy of Thy Love" to Grant me that purity of spirit...which makes us worthy of Love." Without the Thees and Thous, the prayer seemed to evolve into a generalized prayer of being, focused on Good.

THE SOUTHERN POETRY ANTHOLOGY

* Laura Treacy Bentley
* Maggie Anderson

Laura Treacy Bentley has two poems in THE SOUTHERN POETRY ANTHOLOGY, Volume III: Contemporary Appalachia. "Closet Appalachians" appeared originally in the #2 issue of 10x3 plus. "Gas Stations" was first published in Pudding Magazine.

Years ago, I wrote a grant for the Pennsylvania Council of the Humanities to cover a community program featuring Maggie Anderson. Maggie's presentation culminated with an evening poetry reading in a local church in southwestern Pennsylvania, and poems such as "House and Graveyard, Rowlesburg, West Virginia, 1935" really resonated with the residents. At the time, the community newspaper reprinted "Spitting in the Leaves" and I was glad to see it published again in this anthology.

Other writers with West Virginia connections included in THE SOUTHERN POETRY ANTHOLOGY are Casie Fedukovich, Harry Gieg, Chris Green, Larry Grimes, Ron Houchin, Donna J. Long, Jeff Mann, and Elizabeth Savage.

This is a really rich and wide ranging anthology and I hope it will find a readership that extends well beyond the Appalachian region.