Marie Marchand: Mostly Sweet, Lovely, Human Things
Mostly Sweet, Lovely, Human Things offers poems that strive toward their reader,
poems that “make every line count as much as breathing.” In a rich and familiar voice that
sounds to your spirit like an old friend, these poems speak of comfort and encouragement,
recognition, and wisdom. This generous and vulnerable collection is a sanctuary of warmth
and connection in the lonely wilderness of living.
—Rena Priest, Washington State Poet Laureate (2021-23), author of Patriarchy Blues
I Have Forgotten What Peace Feels Liks
I have forgotten what peace feels like.
Does it have something to do with the fox?
How the sleek animal turns its narrow red face
toward the morning wind and relishes it as if life?
If I could do the same and surrender to
the present moment, then karma assures me
blessings would come forth on the breeze
and lead to immaculate release.
Instead I hold tight to old ways and routines,
resist duty. I have my own ideas and
that is the problem, not all the demands,
but the grasping for something different.
I will experiment with acceptance, and give up
my resentments. Learning from the fox, who lives
among the austere elements, I will turn my face
toward the rushing wind and relish it as if life.
A Pushcart Prize nominee, Marie Marchand served as the
Inaugural Poet Laureate of Ellensburg, WA, 2022–24. Her
poetry has appeared in
Poetry Ireland Review, Crannóg
Magazine, Catamaran Literary Reader, California Quarterly,
and Tikkun. Her previous books include Gifts to the Attentive
(Winter Goose Publishing, 2022).
Marie is a graduate of Naropa University and the Iliff
School of Theology where she studied psychology, religion,
and peacemaking. Her two passions are poetry and mental
health. She enjoys living on the sunny side of Washington
with her two rescued min pins, Benny and Joon.
Visit Marie's page at MoonPathPress.com
Purchase Marie's collection from your favorite retailer:
Shawn Aveningo Sanders: Pockets
In Pockets, Shawn Aveningo Sanders’ beautiful new volume of poetry, we find ourselves rich with poems,
with stories, with true treasures to fill the heart and mind. In this generous book, pockets become more than metaphors;
they become concrete ways of carrying into our days what we most need: love, imagination, connection, hope.
Take this book into the world with you—carry it in your coat, your bag, your car. You will find comfort whenever you open it.
This kind and loving book asks, “Could a poem help make your day a little better?” The answer is a grateful, resounding Yes!
—Annie Lighthart, author of PAX
Hope Waits Its Turn
Like the number I pulled out
from the take-your-turn dispenser
at the DMV, Hope sits inside my
pocket. It takes a seat in the green
plastic chair, understanding there are
other emotions ahead of it, each
with their own urgency. Anxiety likes
to hover near the counter, staring at
the red flickering number on the wall,
while Logic pretends to be in control,
recalculating time as the now serving
number grows. But Hope watches as
integers glow, notices how light shifts,
ever so slightly, through each changing
digit, and how zero radiates out from
its inner hole. The way Hope shows up
when we open to each other, asking,
How can I help you today?
Shawn Aveningo Sanders grew up in the suburbs of
St. Louis, Missouri. A true “show me” girl at heart, she
loves writing and reading poems that show instead of tell
stories to stir emotion and move the needle forward
on the empathy meter, in hopes of creating a more
compassionate world. A proud mom of three
and Nana to one adorable little girl, she now shares the
creative life with her husband Robert, in Oregon where
together they have published over 160 poetry books
through their press, The Poetry Box®.
Shawn’s poetry has been published in literary journals including
ONE ART, CALYX, MacQueen’s Quinterly, Willawaw, Sheila-
Na-Gig, Quartet, Timberline Review, Naugatuck River
Review, About Place Journal, Tule Review, Snapdragon,
Northampton Poetry Review, Amsterdam Quarterly,
and others. She was also the editor of The Poeming Pigeon (2014–2024).
Shawn’s previous work includes What She Was Wearing,
a chapbook that reveals her #metoo secret after forty
years. This chapbook, Pockets, was a finalist in the 2024
Concrete Wolf Chapbook Contest.
Instagram: @shawn_aveningo_sanders
Website:RedShoePoet.com
Visit Shawn's page at MoonPathPress.com
Purchase Shawn's collection from your favorite retailer:
