Sunday Poem #10: Processional
An old poem at a new Substack from old friends + rolling out the welcome mat!
Happy Sunday, friends! I have a poem for you. šļø
Well, an old poem, in a new place. But let me back up.
Over the past couple weeks, a bunch of new readers have joined us here. So welcome, Iām Jen! Iām a poet and spiritual director living in southern New England. After 20+ years wandering among blog platforms1, Alongside Journal is the latest home for my writing on the Internet. While I figure out what this space wants to be, Iām sending poems out most Sundays (okay, every other Sunday or two? when I remember?)
If youāre new here, please drop a comment and tell me something interesting or beautiful or funny you can see outside the nearest window right now.
Today Iām sending a poemā¦ and Iām sending you somewhere else to read it. A lot of the new folks may know about this already. But for those who haven't heard, Iām really excited to introduce you to a new project from my friends at The Rabbit Room ā the
newsletter!The Rabbit Room has been part of my life for a long time.2 I started as a curious reader, then an avid fan, Hutchmoot conference-goer, and eventual contributing writer. So of course, when their content director reached out to me about the new Substack experiment they were launching, I was all the way in.
Last week they kindly shared āProcessional,ā one of my older poems. This is a small, true story about a particular small town funeral. It speaks for itself, I think. After spending so much time immersed in revising newer writing for my book3, it was nice to see this one come around again.
Iāll share the first few lines below, with a link to read the rest at RR Poetry. Definitely take a moment to poke around, and if you like what you see, give āem a subscribe!
(excerpt from) Processional We make a clumsy march, these machines gleaming in the winter sun, a line of old sedans, hulking SUVs, and dirt-crusted trucks. And the leader of our patched-up parade, long, stern, and black plods on...
Livejournal! Blogger! Wordpress dot com! Even freakinā Tumblr and quiet TinyLetter! (Signs you might be an elder millennial / denizen of the original Web 2.0.)
Yes, I met Chris through the RRās online community and in person at their 2012 conference. Itās the nerdiest little love story and itās really fun to tell people I met my husband on the Internet but not in a weird way.
Oh right, I have one of those. Beneath the Flood released in May and you can find it here!