Sometimes when I invite a friend to share their gift with Prayer Bench, I don’t realize the care, effort and attention they give to the task. When I outlined the themes the Prayer Bench Advent Calendar, Marilyn went through her six collections of poetry and two non-fiction works and carefully curated a gift of poems to share. I invite you to watch for them on Day 12,19 an 26.
Take your time reading them. Absorb the words. Know you are reading the words of a prophet for such a time as this.
After a career as an educator, Marilyn followed a passion for the literary arts. A published poet, she brings passion for life through her action in many issues for peace and social justice. Marilyn has published six collections of poetry and two non-fiction works. You can read about her books and read snippets of poetry in this Wikipedia entry: Marilyn Lerch.
She lives in Sackville, New Brunswick with her wife, Janet Hammock. She served as poet laureate of Sackville from 2014-2018.
Marilyn is an activist, in word and action. You’ll find her on the streets, protesting climate change or standing for Gaza. I am moved by this quote recorded in Wikipédia : “I began to have an image of myself as a poet who was standing in a very indefinite, immense space, and I’m pointing at things that I think we need to pay attention to,” Lerch told an interviewer in 2014 after publishing her fourth book of poetry.
Every Advent needs a prophet and so often, they are also a poet. I am grateful to Marilyn for generously sharing these poems with Prayer Bench. Watch for them in the Prayer Bench online calendar.
“A Poem Must” from Witness and Resist. Morgaine House, Pointe Claire, Quebec, 2008.
“Hum of Static” from The Physics of Allowable Sway, Devon Avenue Poetry Books, 2013.
“Navidad” from Witness and Resist. Morgaine House, Pointe Claire, Quebec, 2008
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