Prayer Gardening

Praise for Prayer Gardening:

Constance Brewer writes in Prayer Gardening, “my eyes adjust to nuance,” and my eyes do too, as a reader of this evocative chapbook that explores daily life with fresh eyes. These are poems of gratitude, in Kathleen Cassen Mickelson’s words, for the landscape “in which I love everything/the traffic, the gas pumps/the bus bench, the library…,” while also acknowledging “the hunger beneath every song.” The interplay between the two poets immerses us in family relationships, encounters with the natural world, and most of all, a mature understanding of the contradictions in all of our lives, for “What is love but a failed picture of the moon.”

—Joanne Durham, author of To Drink from a Wider Bowl and On Shifting Shoals

The earth-toned poems in Prayer Gardening by Constance Brewer and Kathleen Cassen Mickelson burble along the riverbank, lace themselves among the trees, tease us through seasons, give us glimpses of dreams, the yeasty smell of bread rising, the moon, angels, and even origami. And, oh, the birds—glorious, full-throated, “each voice as one small part of a choir,” (KCM) “light arrowing down/ to anoint… with purpose”(CB). Though there are two distinct voices here, one cannot help but deduce they are both channeling the same dazzling earth-centric deity.

—Kari Gunter-Seymour, Ohio Poet Laureate, author of Alone in the House of My Heart

Prayer Gardening sparkles with birds, stars, and snowflakes. In these pages, we feel touch “sweep my soul/back into my body” and “hear the hunger beneath every song.” Constance Brewer and Kathleen Cassen Mickelson’s words call us to “whisper thanks for this breath,” reminding us to fully inhabit our lives—as the best poetry always does.  

—Laura Grace Weldon, 2019 Ohio Poet of the Year, author of Portals  

On Writing Prayer Gardening

The chapbook Prayer Gardening was co-authored with poet Kathleen Cassen Mickelson. We’ve worked together for years, first as assistant editors at Every Day Poets, then as co-founders of Gyroscope Review poetry magazine, and also exchanging poems for critiques. Our work covered similar interests and themes, and this collection grew organically out of our poetic conversations. —Constance Brewer

Love Poem with Accolades

It's hell growing old. You age out of flattery.
No one tells you you're pretty anymore.
The athletes you watch play ball could be your grandchildren.
Somehow, young waitresses now call you honey, 
and dear, and sweetie, and point you to the senior special. 
In my head I'm twenty-five, no more than thirty-two.
My body has a different perception, but it strives to do all I ask. 
And then there is us. We've been together far too long. You 
don't say hey beautiful anymore, but nor do you notice the 
increasing silver strands in my dark hair. 
Yesterday you bought me a new lamp with LED bulbs 
bright enough to knit black yarn by. 
Maybe you saw me struggle to count my stitches. Maybe you hate 
the heavy cheater glasses I need to wear. Either way, it's beautiful, 
what you did, and I have to remember to tell you so. 
Each day together is a compliment.

Listen to a Poem from Prayer Gardening

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