FEED THE HOLY: UPDATE

 

FEED THE HOLY: UPDATE

In November 2024, I founded FEED THE HOLY, a literary journal on Blogspot.

I want to provide a place for poets and writers to explore their sacred human journey during fraught times. 

Contributors share their love of nature and other things that bring them joy. They write of how they nurture community and spread love and kindness. They also explore tough topics, such as recovering from illness and loss, and they share their grief and sorrow. All of their posts offer healing.

I am elated. As of this date, FEED THE HOLY has almost 200 contributors, 557 posts, and 224,443 views. But numbers do not matter as much as what is in the hearts of contributors and readers who comment and share posts.

As you read this post, note the format of the journal. The contributors' posts are in the central column. Unfortunately, the template does not offer a LIKE button 😩. But you can comment on posts and share them.

The right sidebar features popular posts, including the Submission Guidelines and the Submission Call. It's essential to read both before submitting. 

You can learn about FEED THE HOLY's awesome family of contributors. [On the left sidebar, you can view the labels (or themes) that contributors have written about, along with their names.]

Also, take a look at the popular posts listed in the right sidebar.  

You can also see the journal's total views, thanks to its outstanding submissions! 

In the right sidebar, you'll also find a list of links to my books and other goodies, as well as a place to translate a post. 

Support the Contributors

I hope that you read the journal and/or submit! Don't forget to comment and respond to comments. Contributors, please share your good news on your social media and with family and friends. Help our community grow.

FOLLOW FEED THE HOLY

I will be thrilled if you follow FEED THE HOLY. On the right sidebar, scroll down to the section labeled "Get New Posts by Email." It's free to sign up, and you will receive a daily update from FOLLOW.IT, which manages the subscriber list.

Or click here: Follow Feed the Holy. 

Support My Volunteer Work

If you'd like to support my volunteer work, please click on Buy Me a Coffee.  It will help cover the annual cost of FOLLOW.IT. Thank you so much! 

By the way, I was voted one of the top ten editors on Chill Subs!

Track your submissions on Duotrope. 

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Spontaneity: Chasing Crazy by Sterling Warner

Jair Hernandez

Spontaneity: Chasing Crazy

Dancing the tango down Main Street

grabbing a complete stranger’s hands

leading partners chest-to-chest, alternating

upper thigh & hips proactively, like a sailor

on leave, steppin’ out, swaying like Dean Martin

taking small steps, three sheets to the wind.

Skipping smooth, flat stones across shallow koi ponds,

ripples roll like miniature arching waves

crashing into rooted water plants along the shoreline; 

sitting for hours at railway junctions watching trains

waiting for the streamlined Denver Zephyr, observing only

two-level louvered stock cars transporting pigs & cattle.

Gamboling through downpours without an umbrella,

kicking colorful oil rings resting on puddles,

ducking inside an all-night FM radio station

at the edge of town, announcing call letters before

introducing an uninterrupted hour of Pink Floyd classics

returning to deserted sidewalks, owning them till dawn.

(first appeared in Uppagus in December 2020)

© Sterling Warner

Sterling Warner

Washington-based author, poet, and educator, Sterling Warner’s works have appeared in such magazines, journals, and anthologies as Verse-Virtual, Ekphrastic Review. Warner’s poetry/fiction includes Rags and Feathers, Without Wheels, ShadowCat, Edges, Memento Mori, Serpent’s Tooth, Flytraps: Poems, Cracks of Light: Pandemic Poetry & Fiction, Halcyon Days: Collected Fibonacci, Abraxas: Poems, Gunilla’s Garden: Poems (2025), and Masques: Flash Fiction & Short Stories.  He currently writes, hosts “virtual” poetry/fiction readings, and enjoys fishing along the Hood Canal.

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Camp Springs Pilgrim by Nancy K. Jentsch

 

Phil Mitchell

Camp Springs Pilgrim

After Chögyam Trungpa’s “Tibetan Pilgrim”

On the right, a ridgeline of cedar trees—

at its foot a fence post attracting summer’s wren—

is like a saint with a halo of bayberry.

On the left, a pasture rise lined by oak trees—

at its foot a creek, swimming with breathless life—

is like a sleeping prince on a satin sheet.

Straight ahead, a vineyard juts above barns

capped with ridged tin roofs like a lord

garbed in scarlet.

A young pilgrim savors the view of fallow ground

picks up a feather to balance her load

and travels on.

© Nancy K. Jentsch

Nancy K. Jentsch

Nancy K. Jentsch’s poetry has appeared recently in Amethyst Review, Braided Way, and Verse-Virtual. Her chapbook, Authorized Visitors, was published by Cherry Grove Collections, and her first collection, Between the Rows (Shanti Arts), debuted in 2022. More information is available on her website: https://jentsch8.wixsite.com/my-site. 

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The Hidden Brook by Sarah Das Gupta

Norman Crabtree

The Hidden Brook

Dragonflies flit across the surface of the stream,

wings white, iridescent, caught in sunlight.

Unseen spirits perch there, riding over flowing water.

On the surface, strands of green hair

float on the fast-flowing currents.

Water nymphs clutch autumn leaves

to drop over the foaming weir.

Golden kingcups line the green banks,

homes to furry bumble bees,

while tight balls of fragile gnats,

rise and fall above the eddies.

A sudden rainbow flash among the willows,

a kingfisher breaks the surface of the mill pond.

Tiny spirits wait with nets of gossamer

to trap small fish which gleam like silver

in the shadow of the ferny banks.

As the pale moon wanes in a primrose dawn,

the mysterious and magical disappear.

So begins an ordinary day.

© Sarah Das Gupta

Sarah Das Gupta

Sarah Das Gupta is an 82-year-old, handicapped poet from Cambridge, UK. She started writing poetry in 2022 after an accident that has prevented her from walking more than a few metres. Her work has been published in over twenty countries. Writing has enabled her to travel and communicate with many people through words.

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Purple Mountain by Yongbo Ma

 

www.kaboompics.com 

Purple Mountain

Darling, the cold is setting in

has your tea gone cold as well?

that kettle of mountain spring water, simmering

since summer began—

has it still not come to a boil?

The sun is shining bright, I’m not thinking of you

I’m still up on the mountain, chopping firewood

rest assured, we are there, together with the sunshine

and this winter, too

the potatoes buried in the stove ash, still dusted

with home soil

have turned so tender and soft that they can barely

be held

the kettle is singing on and on

Everything remains as it was at the dawn of creation

no trace of hierarchy, no shadow or light to tell apart

I pause my work, and clearly see

beyond the undulating, variegated mountain ridges

a blue smile, printed upon the more distant treetops

© Yongbo Ma

Yongbo Ma

Ma Yongbo was born in 1964, holds a Ph.D., is a representative of Chinese avant-garde poetry, and is a leading scholar in Anglo-American poetry. He is the founder of polyphonic writing and objectified poetics. He is also the first translator to introduce British and American postmodern poetry into Chinese.

He has published over eighty original works and translations since 1986, including 9 poetry collections. He focused on translating and teaching Anglo-American poetry and prose, including the work of Dickinson, Whitman, Stevens, Pound, Amy Lowell, Williams, and Ashbery. He published a complete translation of Moby Dick, which has sold over 600,000 copies. The Collected Poems of Ma Yongbo (four volumes, Eastern Publishing Centre, 2024), comprising 1178 poems, celebrates 40 years of writing poetry.

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PASSION by Shafkat Aziz Hajam

 

Nastasya Banana

PASSION  

When we have passion, we don’t stay,  

We work hard night and day.  

We play our best role  

To achieve our desired goal.  

We gather courage and let go of fear,  

All the difficulties we bravely bear.  

Though we are in pain and tired,  

We keep moving forward.  

We swim across the seas and climb the mountains,  

Though it’s unbearably hot, cold, or it heavily rains.  

We don’t return, ahead we go,  

Though the strong winds blow.  

Though we’re hungry and thirsty,  

We move forward patiently.  

We move on the thorns that come in our way.  

We never step back but move forward night and day.  

It’s the passion that helps us win our race,  

Though we face many difficulties.  

So, until passion in us plays its role,  

We can’t achieve our desired goal.  

© Shafkat Aziz Hajam

Shafkat Aziz Hajam from India kashmir, is a poet, reviewer, and co-author. He is the author of 3 books titled The Cuckoo’s Voice, The Unknown Wounded Heart, and Tawheed Islamic Rhymes. His poems have appeared in international magazines and anthologies, including Wheel Song, a UK-based anthology; Prodigy, a digital literary magazine in the USA; and anthologies in Argentina and Lebanon featuring translated works. 

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The elm tree by John Doriot

Ran Hua

The elm tree

The elm tree’s limbs droop 

in curved and uneven clumps. 

I see the tree and the branches

from my bay window. 

The tree is healthy, grass green 

leaves hanging from strong tan 

and chocolate brown limbs 

with peeling gray rectangles

of bark, reflecting life 

and death simultaneously. 

The limbs appear burdened. 

Heat has been excessive, but

several days of rain have brought 

relief. I think the burden I 

perceive resides within me. 

Nature, in the form of this 

elm tree is there to remind 

me of the presence of God. 

As is the unwavering desire of my

dog to be with me at all times, 

especially when I am sad, leaving me

if I swear at the world, only to 

check back on me minutes later

to make sure I am okay. 

I struggle with sad days when

dreams are a struggle or 

health prevents me from 

finding some semblance of 

normal. Anger consumes 

me before the rational mind 

tells me to stop, to open my eyes. 

Plans not seen do not mean plans not made.

Yet, there are days, I wonder if I am 

strong enough to endure the journey.

And then my dog comes to me, wags her tail,

letting me know she is there. Will always

be there. Others say the same thing in silence

or with acts of kindness.

This time, the pendulous nature of a healthy elm tree

prompted me to open my eyes. I believe nature 

whispers to God daily, and together they plan simple

exhibits of life, reminding those with a desire to sleep,  to awaken.  © John Doriot

John Doriot 

John Doriot is an award-winning author and poet. He has written 17 books and received 7 Georgia Independent Author of the Year Awards from 2022 to 2025. Three of those awards were for collections of poetry. 

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