Spring 2021
Spring 2021
The 2021 issue of Relief was created around the idea that our art and writing provide an opportunity for community and rest amidst the ongoing turmoil in our lives—particularly that of the world around us. From the beautiful cover art by Jazmin Tuscani to the works of poetry, prose, and graphic art in the pages of this issue, we invite readers to take part in that community. Whether you’ve been reading Relief for years of have just heard of it, we’re glad you’re here.
Daniel Bowman, Jr.
From the Editor's Desk
Poetry
Erica Charis-Molling
Trying to Keep Faith After the Second Insemination
Lynn Domina
Filming Judith
John Philip Drury
Beginning with a Line from Turgenev's On the Eve
Cherry Blossoms around the Tidal Basin
Olga Dugan
Another Reaping—December 29, 2019
Candle in A Gale Wind: An Ode to Faith
The Woman at The Well
Janice Freytag
Creak of Hinges
The Anxious Thoughts of Pole Beans
Matthew Henry
Say we survey the wondrous cross
some students give apples
Stephen Kampa
Some Call It a Care Package, Some Call It a Sick Kit
Laurie Klein
Shapes
Lately, when I awake desolate
Marjorie Maddox
Auto-, Bio, Graphy
Then, Later, Now
Matthew Miller
Sleeping in That Gap Between His Teeth
Linda Mills Woolsey
An American Postcard
Great Wave
Mallory Nygard
Pelican
Jose Oseguera
One day I too will wear stars
Eric Potter
Visiting Patmos
Ron Riekki
iii. Chair, Carpet, Light, Smoke
v. Gregorian Chants of Silence
Whitney Rio-Ross
After making love, I remember you are dying
Denise Rue
After the Storm
Instructions for the Incarnation
Luci Shaw
Gain and Gone
Derold Ernest Sligh
Timofei
Jack Stewart
El Greco's View of Toledo
Veronica Toth
When the Body Owns the Day
Erin Wilson
Prelude for a Fugue
Creative Nonfiction
Amie Adams
via negativa
Maureen Boland
Two Pink Hearts
Julia Dallaway
The Great Revelation: Evangelical Testimonies and Modernist Literature
Jaylan Miller
To Be Human
Alea Peister
Camino
Kimberly Ann Priest
The Most Painful Insect in the World
Ellen Rogers
Night After Night (a winter solstice essay)
Nancy Rust
On Pain and Presence
Shelbi Tedeschi
Wedding Rings
Fiction
Matt Andrews
Flight
Robert Cesaretti
Suspiciously
Jacqueline Vogtman
Jubilee Year
Comic
Rinnah Shaw
Genesis