Monthly Archives: July 2023

So hard he was hurting his own toes

Posted on July 26, 2023 by Maren

I went with visiting grandchildrensix and eight years old.to a candlepin bowling alleyand we had a great time,(they won), then, of course, there was the siren songwafting from afar … the arcade,with its dings and blings,whistles and bops and lights … Continue reading →

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This is where we say … “WOW!” and “Thank You!” and “Let’s celebrate Beta Readers!”

Posted on July 25, 2023 by Maren

Maria Mankin, co-author, and I have been very busy doing early promotion for Death in the Woods, the second in our Rev and Rye Mysteries series. This included getting the word out in four days for a book signing at … Continue reading →

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Brief moment with Matthew 13:24-29  

Posted on July 20, 2023 by Maren

Two old preachers sit on the porch swing,thinking about scripture.One says to her friend, “I’m gluten-free.”The other replies “I love my dandelion wineand drink it to helpmy lungs and my heart.” And so they rock and talk,no sermon nowbut only … Continue reading →

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 Who Sings for Mahalath (Genesis 28:9)

Posted on July 17, 2023 by Maren

A reader of mine remembered a poem I wrote in 2020 (Sue Ellen Hall) It is an expansion from verse before this Sunday’s text … and this Biblical woman has been forgotten for so long (like so many, after the … Continue reading →

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Improv on Isaiah 55:10-13

Posted on July 14, 2023 by Maren

The trees of the fields clapped their handsat lightning fires of the past,new controlled fires of forestry servicesbecause they bring forththe beginning of new lifebut there is no such applausefor the wildfires that flay the landin countries all over the … Continue reading →

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Barbara Messner sent me a copy of her wonderful new book, “A Cycle of Sunday Poems” based on An Australian Lectionary and one of my favorite from her blog: http://barbpoetpriest.blog/blog/

Posted on July 13, 2023 by Maren

The Sower and the Seed RevisitedPentecost 6 Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23 The sower gracefully distributes seed:it’s strange how indiscriminate the aim,as though each destination was the same,on path or field, in stones or thorny weed.The sower knows that birds might need … Continue reading →

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It’s Release Day …

Posted on July 11, 2023 by Maren

…for “Death in the Woods” by Maria Mankin and Maren C. Tirabassi! You will certainly be hearing more from us but this is what other cozy mystery writers have said … Amy Patricia Meade (author of The Tish Tarragon Mysteries, … Continue reading →

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My poem in a bar of chocolate

Posted on July 10, 2023 by Maren

I find my poem in a bar of chocolate,or rather the QR codefor an album of poems and songsabout Star Island,seven miles off New Hampshire,one of nine Isles of Shoals,in N’dakinna, lands and waterwaysof Wabanaki peopleboth past and present. It … Continue reading →

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O, say, can you see, hear … grieve?

Posted on July 6, 2023 by Maren

I pray for our new era of where and how-many,Washington DC, Philadelphia, Fort Worth,Indianapolis, Baltimore, Shreveport,(have I missed one?)and then the ages of victims,the numbers of victims,the numbers of injured. And the “news” is about ten yearsin America of July … Continue reading →

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July 4, 2023 An Independence Memory … or why I was turned down for the Daughters of the American Revolution

Posted on July 4, 2023 by Maren

Prose today. I come to this day each year and it is often a heart-breaking time when I reflect most on Katherine Lee Bates line in her famous song “America the Beautiful,” God mend thine every flaw. The mending basket … Continue reading →

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