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The hidden life in me
listens for the voices of the trees.
They are singing, somewhere deep beneath
the silver skin of old beech trees
sounding roots that hold
the forest floor together,
pulsing upward,  lifeblood
from root through towering trunk and up
to overarching crown.
A song is rising, and sometimes
walking, as today, at winter’s end
watching for the signs, I feel
suddenly, earth’s breathing pulse:
Viriditas: It sings in me.

Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

Kathleen Henderson Staudt

A finalist in the 2021 Paraclete Poetry contest, Kathleen Henderson Staudt (Kathy) has published 3 books of her own poetry, most recently Good Places. She has also edited This Thing Called Poetry, an anthology of poems by young adult cancer survivors. Kathy has worked as a teacher, poet and spiritual director at a number of institutions in the Washington, DC area, including Virginia Theological Seminary and Wesley Theological Seminary. She is passionate about living and fostering an open-hearted and always-growing faith, grounded in the  Christian tradition. Trained in the art of Spiritual Guidance, she finds that her one-on-one work with people, accompanying them on their faith journeys, has become the source of energy for all facets of her writing and teaching. She teaches regularly  in the Adelynrood School for Spiritual Direction, sponsored by the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross an intentional community of women dedicated to a life of intercessory prayer, thanksgiving, social justice, and simplicity of life, which is also her own community. She has authored 2 scholarly books and many articles on the British artist and poet David Jones, whose work is rooted in a sense of connection between art and sacrament. She has also written and taught widely on the Anglican spiritual writer Evelyn Underhill. She serves as academic director of the David Jones Research center and as president of the Evelyn Underhill Association. Her website is kathleenstaudtpoet.com.

One Comment

  • Jack Ridl says:

    So admire and appreciate your poems!
    Our family to this day calls a vacuum a Hoover. Your transformational poems connect and I am ever so grateful.

    Speaking of Paraclete, I recommend the wonderful writing of Gayle Boss.

    Thank ye