Intermittent Sacraments - Kuck, Mary Hills

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Résumé :
A sacrament is the visible sign of inward grace. In Intermittent Sacraments, Mary Hills Kuck presents poems that lead us to recognize these signs in the objects and events of every day: bread, raspberries, plum tree blossoms, a train ride, a cell phone that inspires glory, glory, glory. Intermittent suggests that sacraments are not always visible. Several poems express the wish for a sign that does not come: in an exorcism at a distant seminary, in the deaths of the author's sister and her parents. Together, the poems suggest that the expectation of grace enhances and makes rich our mundane experiences. Mary Hills Kuck was born and raised in the American Midwest, and spent most of her adult life on the East Coast until she moved to Jamaica, West Indies, to teach English. She lived there with her family for 23 years. If you listen carefully, you will hear echoes of those years in her poetry, especially in The Luck of Pigs, yet she remains rooted in Illinois and Missouri. The unreliable spring in Deception, the moonlight in A Poem, the succulent raspberries in Advice from a Housewife betray her Midwestern roots that still define her work.

Biographie:
Mary Hills Kuck spent her early years in various small towns in Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois, where her father served as a Presbyterian minister. After completing degrees in English and German, she taught in secondary schools and other institutions in St. Louis and on the East Coast. In 1991 she moved with her family to Kingston, Jamaica, where she spent 23 years teaching at the United Theological College of the West Indies and the Vocational Training and Development Institute. She now lives in Massachusetts, where she teaches English, advocates for immigrants, and writes. The poetry in this book focuses on how grace enters our everyday lives, bringing joy in surprising moments and comforting us in loss.