John Donne’s “A Hymn to the Father” was one of the first poems that I really came to appreciate. I think it’s because it names something that seems to permeate so much of the religious life – I’d say in our time and land, but apparently it was so in Donne’s time as well: fear....

Some things are hard to give fit tribute to. No matter what we may say, it always seems to fall short. On those occasions, I’ve found that it can be better, actually to avoid “giving fit tribute” but instead approach the matter “sideways” by focusing on one concrete detail – of the...

To tell you the truth, I’ve read more of A. A. Milne as an adult than as a child. (We had those wonderful Disney Winnie the Pooh films; who needed the books?) And even now I probably enjoy listening to him read via an audio book while driving with my kids than actually reading to myself....

How many names do you have? Puanani Burgess, a young Hawaiian poet, reminds us that we all have more than one name. She does that by describing her multiple names. But hers aren’t simply metaphorical; they represent what it means to live in a richly diverse culture that is strengthened...

I can’t honestly say why I like New Zealand poet Mary Ursula Bethell’s poem “Response” so much. I think it just feels like a post-Easter, spring-is-in-the air kind of poem. Except it’s more than that, too. Because it’s not just that spring is in the air...