"Exploring the terrain of family stories and observational happenstance, Longenecker's astute and witty eye captures the essence of a moment and offers it with a keen perspective that is at once wise and wry." —Dana Savage, Lancaster Online (an edition of Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era) Summary: Aiming to
write for these who tell her “I don’t like poetry, but I like what you
write,” Longenecker seeks to create poems that are textually accessible
and often traditional in form yet (as her title poem signals)
use the ordinary to convey the extraordinary. “Chris takes the happenings of a common day, a conversation with a lover, a family gathering, and winds them into a framework that, like Georgia O’Keefe’s magnified flowers, helps us really see these moments—which, without poets or artists, might slip by unnoticed. She surreptitiously, by way of trees, lilies, and socks on the floor, nudges us to lean into life and love.” —Pamela Dintaman, contemplative pastor, chaplain, and Yuma, Arizona, desert dweller “The topographical
and familial references in the Longenecker landscape can have a
cheerfully domestic effect. Across the same scene, however, can flit
shadows dark enough for the taste of readers with existential (if
hopeful) anxiety. There is always emotional paradox. Beneath a wrapping
of self-deprecating irreverence can lurk an offering of worship.” —John L. Ruth, Author, The Earth
Is the Lord’s: A Narrative History of Lancaster Mennonite Conference,
in the Foreword Market:
Longenecker’s poetry should appeal to all readers who appreciate poetry
that is both accessible and subtextually profound, who care deeply
about the natural world (not least trees) and how we touch the heavenly
in the ordinary. The Author: Fascinated by language, particularly the metaphor, Chris Longenecker, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has memorized, studied, and practiced writing poetry most of her life. Whether love of trees or love of poetry came first for Chris would be impossible to say. Publisher: Cascadia
Publishing House LLC
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