What the Body Knows: Poems

What the Body Knows: Poems

<p><i>What the Body Knows</I> is a collection of poems that seeks the language of what lies deeply within the body, to listen and to name the longings, losses, and gains of a long life.</p> <p> <p>"In bygone centuries a mirror was held to the lips of a passing loved one to check for the delicate mist of life. These poems are like that mirror. To their reflecting surface clings a distillation of clarity and wisdom, precious to those who look into the glass." --<i>Rhoda Janzen, Author</i>, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress <i>and</i> Mennonite Meets Mr. Right <p> <p>"Jean Janzen addresses her treasured topics--desire, mystery, language, family and heritage, music, embodied spirituality--with confidence and grace. 'Write it, the hunger and the song,' says one poem. And she does, brilliantly. Janzen's vision has never been clearer; her words have never confessed more truth. This book took over 80 years to write, and its final, passionate message is 'mercy,' a resounding 'Yes.'" <i> --Julia Spicher Kasdorf, Author, </i>Poetry in America</p> <p> <p>"In 'Winter Child' Jean Janzen remembers 'a kind of ecstasy' from a wintry afternoon, her 'small figure falling again and again / to make a host of angels in my own backyard.' Steeped as they are in loss and grief, these poems may hardly seem angelic--except in their glimmering music, their wintry knowledge, and their generous wisdom. <i>What the Body Knows</i> is a book to savor and to treasure." <i>--Jeff Gundy, Author of Songs</i> from an Empty Cage <i>and</i> Somewhere Near Defiance </p> <p> <b>The Author: </b>Jean Janzen, a poet living in Fresno, California, is the author of six previous collections of poetry who has received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship and other awards. A graduate of Fresno Pacific University and California State University of Fresno, she has taught at Fresno Pacific and Eastern Mennonite University. </p> <p> <i>What the Body Knows</i> is volume 12 in the <b> DreamSeeker Poetry Series</b> released by Cascadia Publishing House LLC and follows volume 11, <i>Momentary Stay</i>, Barbara Esch Shisler.