Book Review: Sisters of the Circle

Carol Haefner's Sisters of the Circle is a book of poetry, subtitled "One Woman's Journey to Wholeness." It's odd how I happened to find this book. Or maybe it found me. I was browsing at Half-Price Books and liked the colors on the spine, so I pulled it out. I saw that it was poetry, which I read sometimes, but not a lot, wasn't in the mood, so I put it back. I moved on and a little later thought of something I wanted to look for, so I retraced my steps and ended up pulling the book off the shelf a second time and reading the foreword. When I saw that it was about a woman's struggle with depression, I decided it would probably be a downer, so I put it back on the shelf. Nevertheless, I was drawn back to that book a third time, so I bought it and I'm glad I did. I've never suffered from depression, but I have a dear friend who has. Carol Haefner's poems feel authentic as she describes her suffering and her struggle to overcome it.

Art haiku by Herb Reed

Painting is like life.
If you get your values right,
The rest is easy.

Robert Frost Poetry Award

I'm pleased to announce that a friend of our family has won the prestigious Robert Frost Poetry Award presented by the Robert Frost Foundation of Lawrence, Massachussetts. Rob Smith's poem, "Catbird", was chosen out of more than 650 submissions from poets representing twelve countries. Specifically, this contest seeks to recognize poetry written "in the Spirit of Robert Frost." This year's judge of the blind competition was Ben Mazer, contributing editor of Fulcrum Annual, a review of English language poetry.

Rob Smith has been writing poetry all his life, but only a few poems have been put forward for publication. His major literary works are two novels, Night Voices and Children of Light. Additionally, he has a novella/short story collection under consideration by a publisher. As a novelist, Rob tries to bring his sensitivity as a poet to bear on his characters and storyline. Winning the 2006 Robert Frost Award is a highpoint in his career. A long time admirer of Frost, Smith has presented public readings of the poet's work. Currently, Rob divides his time between writing and teaching Religion and Philosophy online for Wright State University in Dayton. Rob is a native of Youngstown, Ohio who attended high school in the Cleveland area. He holds degrees in religion and philosophy from Westminster College and Princeton Theological Seminary. He was our pastor for many years and officiated at our daughter's wedding eleven years ago.

Congratulations, Rob. Proud to know ye!

Painting must do for the eyes what poetry does for the ears. --Antoine Coypel (1720)

Computer haiku

This morning I came across an email post I saved from November of 2000. There are many variations of this on the web now. The haiku form of poetry consists of a strict number of beats in each line, in this case most are 5-7-5.

A file that big?
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.

The Web site you seek
Cannot be located but
Countless more exist.

Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.

ABORTED effort:
Close all that you have worked on.
You ask far too much.

Windows NT crashed.
Within the Blue Screen of Death
No one hears you scream.

Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.

First snow, then silence.
This thousand dollar screen dies.
So beautiful.

With searching comes loss
And the presence of absence:
"My Novel" not found.

The Tao that is seen
is not the true Tao, until
You bring fresh toner.

Stay the patient course.
Your ire is of little use.
The network is down.

A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.

Three things are certain:
Death, taxes, and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.

You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.

Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.

Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.

Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.