She is the author of three poetry collections; her first collection, Keeping Me Still (Winter Goose Publishing 2014), was a finalist in the Jacar Press Julie Suk Award for Best Poetry Book Published by an Independent Press in 2014. Her second collection, Threshing Floor, was published by Jacar Press in 2016, and Church Ladies was published by Fernwood Press in 2023.

She is also the author of several poetry chapbooks, the most recent of which is the The Commonplace Misfortunes of Everyday Plants (Belle Point Press). Her middle-grade novel is Why Silas Miller Must Learn to Ride a Bike (Winter Goose Publishing 2022). Her poetry has recently appeared in publications such as Shenandoah, Windhover, Poet Lore, Dappled Things, Contrary, Christian Courier, The Rabbit Room, Coffee + Crumbs, and Ekstasis, among others.

She holds an MFA in poetry from Boston University, where she was also awarded the Academy of American Poets Prize. In 2016, she was awarded an Individual Artist Grant by the Arkansas Arts Council. In recent years, she has received multiple Pushcart Prize nominations in poetry. Currently, she teaches online classes for Indiana Wesleyan University and Shorter University.

Originally from Tennessee, she has lived all over the South before settling in Missouri with her husband and children.

I saw beeches shading an avenue,
Pines on an expanse of grass,
Cypress carved on a cathedral,
Cedar captured in stained glass.
I saw the cross of Christ on a cupola,
In a niche covered of flowers,
Saw it occupied, saw it empty,
Saw pilgrims contemplating it for hours.
A protector from the scorching heat
A strong tower in the storm
A rest for travelers’ weary feet
Is a tree—Is the Creator of trees.

raining. that gentle, great sustaining
—nature handwaving in the saving—
drop, by drop, by drop.

rain comes like the pensive paws of a creeping cat.
this quiet rain came down
—pitter pat, pitter pat—
came down and slow today
to drown and soak the soil’s fray,
to lay in long, narrow puddles
to cuddle on my dampened deck.

rain comes as tears
from gray clouds
to break down the clods of dry earth
where moss-covered marl meets
dampened mirth.

rain comes as joy.
a liberation in the turf’s domain:
like open hands the muddy terrain will
hold, heal, and maintain
what once was carried
by winged seed in tiny copters
or dandelion’s cottony down
on wind
or on wild thing;
seed-nourished bird that sings and cries,
seeds clinging to critters
who try to hide,
and then fit,
bee that stings and later dies
having fed flowers before the threat
of why she then bit.

down falls the oak catkin
in exodus from her twiggy cabin.
rain will bend her tender back
along with her feathery kin.

the rain came down;
down as a chime of wrens,
down as a host of sparrows,
down as a gift of robins,
down as a flight of swallows
migrating in the heavens.

still the rain falls.
just as all of life thrives in her washing
in a great baptism of grand provision;
the cleansing hours,
the clearing powers of falling showers,
drop, by drop, by drop.

drop, with drop, with drop,
as torrents teem through tributaries,
—from wonder to… thunder—
her sand and sloshing
carry away the grand glut
of muck and sorrow’s worries.
alluvion widening, bending the course
to mist and twist into rapid torrent
to fill the gorge where water falls,
rounding boulders by the force
of gathering creeks, rivulets, and streams,
of drops and deluge from the source.

then.. when the ground is dry and bound again,
and sun is warm and bright again,
and crisp is the seductive scent of faithful terra firma;
bid the grass and soil with farmer’s toil
to build a sacred convent.
convincing all people
the rinsing is equal;
as wisdom assists a rise from medieval
factions and other smothering distractions
that we will all be wiser
for the wrenching
and the drenching
while the full rain

and cloudmost drains

cascade.

He's 86 now 
Old, but glad 
He sleeps in the fetal position 
A diaper for my dad 
Not much time left now 

He's 66 now 
Tried and true 
He talks now of a premonition 
A tombstone for my mom 
Not much time left now 

He's 46 now 
Strong and good 
He waits now for a little grandson 
A blessing for my mom 
Not much time left now 

He's 26 now 
Young and firm 
He sees her veiled in revelation 
A favor from the Lord 
So much time left now 

He's just 6 now 
Small and bright 
He calls for me with such devotion 
A mother and a son 
So much time left now 

He's coming now 
Fast and light 
He breaks through the womb with a vengeance 
A diaper for my boy 
Time stands still for now 

He's here now 
Flash of light 
He forms in the fetal position 
A name after my dad 
You're in our time now

Via Vitae is the second of an ongoing series of commissioned poems.

Drew a line through her name,
signed beside the date and time.
Tossed the form. She meant
to discard whatever it was
growing in her, making her
tired, making her sick.‍

The clinic sold a tidy removal,
back on track, back to school,
the clock hands pushed in reverse.‍

Gone--one ballerina or astronaut
or teacher--quick and easy, over
and done, and then forget
the heartbeat flickering
on the screen like a lit match
held too close to uncertain breath.‍

Her new life slid open
with the glass door.
She will learn to shoulder
this work, will find her stride.
I walk because she walked out.

She Walked Out is our first commissioned poem.

We meet there, in the sunken gravel lot
    below the knot where three brusque freeways meet—
    a placeless place, too loud to build a house,
Too small to build a business, and too grim
    for gardening. Instead, the rows of circles,
    pressed wide and flat like long-forgotten coins,
The cheapest markers for the poorest dead,
    stretch on and on. No granite rises here,
    no seraphim or crosses hewn of stone.
And if you glimpse the field from your car,
    you’ll see a yawning hole and nothing more.
    The only ways to see the graves are two:
up close, like us, to squint at nameless signs,
    or from above, perhaps the clearest view.

About Betsy K. Brown

Betsy is a poet, essayist, and curricular writer. Her work has appeared in many outlets, including First Things, The New Ohio Review, and The Circe Institute website. She is the author of Leading a Seminar on Frankenstein and City Nave. She chairs the humanities department of a classical school. You can read more of her work at betsykbrown.com.

Award Shortlist

Modus Vivendi by Robert Charboneau

Pygmalion by Robert Charboneau

"Shell Station, Tennessee" by Kelly Scott Franklin

And the Birds Sing by Susan Mulder

The Doctor and the Patient in the Next Exam Bay by Midge Goldberg

Whale Watch by Midge Goldberg

A Passenger by Robert Crawford

A Row of Stones by Robert Crawford

Voice from the Womb by Philip Brown Rosenbaum

Seeing the Work by Philip Brown Rosenbaum

Lambing, Upstate New York by John Jackson

Dark Matter by Dorothy Nielsen

In the Garden by Grace Claire Przywara

Even if the Years Are Not Golden by Tamara B. Nicholl-Smith

In Verse by Don Reynolds

Don Reynolds first book of reflections and poetry in verse.

Don Reynolds worked in worship ministry for 12 years and now works in care ministry at a church in Granger, IN. He has a graduate certificate in Pastoral Ministry with an emphasis in Soul Care from Western Theological Seminary. Don’s love for writing began when he was 16 and lost a brother tragically. Since then he has often found his solace and his soul through the art of words. He and his wife, Caryn, have been married for 25 years and enjoy their life with their two 20-somethings in Northern Indiana.

Product Details:
5" x 7"
72 pages

About Burl Horniachek – Burl grew up near Edmonton, went to the University of Toronto to study Ancient Near Eastern Studies (Hebrew/Ancient Israel) and eventually came back to study creative writing with Nobel Prize winner Derek Walcott at the University of Alberta. His wife is from Winnipeg and they now live in Selkirk. He worked for many years as a high school teacher, but now mostly takes care of their two children.

About Mike Rippy – Mike has worked in the art museum industry for over 20 years and the visual arts for over 30. Through Let Go The Goat, Mike will be sharing his own burgeoning journey into a deeper understanding of poetry so that others who may be curious but intimidated by the medium may feel less apprehensive.

About Jane Greer – Jane Greer is a Catholic formalist poet. She founded and edited Plains Poetry Journal (1981-1993). PPJ was an advance guard of the New Formalism movement—although Greer didn’t know that at the time. Her two most recent poetry collections are Love Like a Conflagration (2020) and The World as We Know It Is Falling Away (2022), both from Lambing Press. She lives in North Dakota.

About Mike Rippy – Mike has worked in the art museum industry for over 20 years and the visual arts for over 30. Through Let Go The Goat, Mike will be sharing his own burgeoning journey into a deeper understanding of poetry so that others who may be curious but intimidated by the medium may feel less apprehensive.

About Mike Rippy – Mike has worked in the art museum industry for over 20 years and the visual arts for over 30. Through Let Go The Goat, Mike will be sharing his own burgeoning journey into a deeper understanding of poetry so that others who may be curious but intimidated by the medium may feel less apprehensive.

About Mike Rippy – Mike has worked in the art museum industry for over 20 years and the visual arts for over 30. Through Let Go The Goat, Mike will be sharing his own burgeoning journey into a deeper understanding of poetry so that others who may be curious but intimidated by the medium may feel less apprehensive.

Born and raised in Yucaipa, California, Lookerse received his BFA from Biola University (2009) and his MFA from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston at Tufts University (2014). He has won awards and grants, exhibited internationally, and lectured extensively.

Arts Presentation Series – Artists present a more in depth look into their own work or present a topic of their own interest, as an example, how poetry slows down time, the differences between “beauty” and “romance”, or bringing awareness to a forgotten or overlooked artist.

Poets Presentation Series – Poets present a more in depth look into their own work or present a topic of their own interest, as an example, how poetry slows down time, the differences between “beauty” and “romance”, or bringing awareness to a forgotten or overlooked poet. Cover image from Grace College

About Katie Hartsock – Katie Hartsock grew up around Youngstown, Ohio, where Mill Creek Park remains one of her favorite places in the world. She is the author of Wolf Trees (2023) and  Bed of Impatiens (2016), both from Able Muse Press. She is an associate professor of English at Oakland University, where she teaches creative writing, English literature, and classical mythology. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with her husband and their two young sons.

Her work appears in journals such as Kenyon Review, Ecotone, POETRY, 32 Poems, Thrush,  The Greensboro Review, Arion, Iron Horse Literary Review, Pleiades, MER, Oxford Poetry, RHINO, Dappled Things, Nimrod, and Rattle’s Poets Respond, and is forthcoming in The Threepenny Review,  The New Criterion,  Birmingham Poetry Review, Image, and Plume.  Her current projects include The Iliad Rewilded, a hybrid text combining translation with vignettes of the epic’s ancient audiences and creative commentary.  Selections of her translations of Homer appeared in Exchanges: Journal of Literary Translation.

She holds a PhD in Comparative Literary Studies from Northwestern University. Her dissertation was entitled, “The Past Like Never Before: Classical Women in Revisionary Poetry from Euripides and Ovid to H.D., Rita Dove, and Carol Ann Duffy.”  She received a MFA from the University of Michigan, where she received the major Hopwood award in poetry, and a BA in English Literature with a minor in Classics from the University of Cincinnati. She served as the editor of #WordsForResilience, a community literary project addressing the Covid-19 pandemic from Oakland University’s Center for Public Humanities. She has taught at Northwestern University and University of Michigan’s Helen Zell Writers Program.

About Mike Rippy – Mike has worked in the art museum industry for over 20 years and the visual arts for over 30. Through LGTG, Mike will be sharing his own burgeoning journey into a deeper understanding of poetry so that others who may be curious but intimidated by the medium may feel less apprehensive.

Image by Lisa Mancuso Horn

About David J. Rothman – David J. Rothman has published six volumes of poetry, including "My Brother’s Keeper" (Lithic Press, 2019) and "The Elephant’s Chiropractor" (Conundrum Press, 1998), both of which were Finalists for the Colorado Book Award. Over the last 40 years hundreds of his poems and essays have appeared Appalachia, The Atlantic, The Formalist, The Gettysburg Review, The Hudson Review, The Journal, The Kenyon Review, The Literary Review, Light, Measure, Poetry, The Threepenny Review and scores of other newspapers, magazines, and journals. In 2018 he won a Pushcart Prize for the poem “Kernels,” which originally appeared in The New Criterion. In 2013 he published "Living the Life: Tales from America’s Mountains & Ski Towns," based on decades of experience in the ski and ski-mountaineering world. He is co-author, with Stanley Rothman and Stephen Powers, of "Hollywood’s America: Social and Political Themes in Motion Pictures." His most recent full-length critical book (co-edited with Jeffrey Villines) is "Belle Turnbull: On the Life and Work of an American Master," published by Pleiades Press in 2017. His most recent work is a poetry textbook, "Learning the Secrets of English Verse," co-authored with Susan Spear, which appeared from Springer in August 2022.

About Mike Rippy – Mike has worked in the art museum industry for over 20 years and the visual arts for over 30. Through LGTG, Mike will be sharing his own burgeoning journey into a deeper understanding of poetry so that others who may be curious but intimidated by the medium may feel less apprehensive.

The author of fourteen books, his most recent collection of poems is Saint Thomas and the Forbidden Birds (Word on Fire, 2024). The Strangeness of the Good (2020), won the poetry book of the year award from the Catholic Media Awards. The Dallas Institute of Humanities awarded him the Hiett Prize in 2017; Memoria College gave him the Parnassus Prize, in 2022; and the Conference on Christianity and Literature twice gave him the Lionel Basney Award.

In addition to his role at the University of Saint Thomas, he serves as poet-in-residence of the Benedict XVI Institute, scholar-in-residence of Aquinas College, editor of Colosseum Books, and poetry editor of Modern Age magazine. Wilson was educated at the University of Michigan (B.A.), the University of Massachusetts (M.A.), and the University of Notre Dame (M.F.A., Ph.D.), where he subsequently held a Sorin Research Fellowship.

Wilson joined the University of Saint Thomas, Houston, in 2021, when he co-founded the Master of Fine Arts program.

Poets Presentation Series – Poets present a more in depth look into their own work or present a topic of their own interest, as an example, how poetry slows down time, the differences between “beauty” and “romance”, or bringing awareness to a forgotten or overlooked poet. Cover image from Grace College

About Amit Majmudar – Amit diagnostic nuclear radiologist who lives in Westerville, Ohio, with his wife and three children. He is the author of four volumes of poetry, most recently What He Did in Solitary. His first collection, 0°, 0°, was a finalist for the Poetry Society of America’s Norma Farber First Book Award; his second, Heaven and Earth, was selected for the 2011 Donald Justice Prize. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Best of the Best American Poetry, and many other places, including the eleventh edition of The Norton Introduction to Literature. He blogs for The Kenyon Review and is also a critically acclaimed novelist.

Biography from Penguin Random House website

About Mike Rippy – Mike has worked in the art museum industry for over 20 years and the visual arts for over 30. Through LGTG, Mike will be sharing his own burgeoning journey into a deeper understanding of poetry so that others who may be curious but intimidated by the medium may feel less apprehensive.

Headshot Ami Buch Majmudar/Alfred A. Knopf

About Mischa Willett – Mischa is a specialist in British Literature of the Nineteenth-Century, particularly the poetry of writers such as William Wordsworth, Percy Shelley, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, though he often teaches Shakespeare and the History of Drama as well. Recently, his interest in the aesthetic movements of the period has caused him to engage the curious school of poets known as the “Spasmodics.” Consisting of mostly working-class writers from the north of Britain, the Spasmodics are the most popular writers that most people have never heard of.

As a poet, he is interested in the pliability of formal structures and in making verse informed by historical Christianity and the past of classical antiquity. He also writes poetic translations from Italian, German, and Greek.

His essays range from topics such as Native American spirituality, to the theology of action movies; from university pedagogy, to Italian painting.

When he is not thinking about, teaching, or writing poetry, Willett can be found worshiping with his family in the local Anglican church, perusing the shelves of Seattle’s many excellent book and record stores, or watching one of his wife’s ballets.

[bio from Seattle Pacific University website]

About Mike Rippy – Mike has worked in the art museum industry for over 20 years and the visual arts for over 30. Through LGTG, Mike will be sharing his own burgeoning journey into a deeper understanding of poetry so that others who may be curious but intimidated by the medium may feel less apprehensive.

Poets Presentation Series
In this series poets present a more in depth look into their own work or present a topic of their own interest, as an example, how poetry slows down time, the differences between “beauty” and “romance”, or bringing awareness to a forgotten or overlooked poet.

About A.M. Juster – Michael James Astrue is an American lawyer and, under the pen name A. M. Juster, a poet and critic. He served as Commissioner of the Social Security Administration from 2007 to 2013. Astrue was Poetry Editor of First Things from 2018 to 2020, and became Poetry Editor of Plough Quarterly in 2020

About Mike Rippy – Mike has worked in the art museum industry for over 20 years and the visual arts for over 30. Through LGTG, Mike will be sharing his journey into a deeper understanding of poetry so that others who may be curious but intimidated by the medium may feel less apprehensive.