Publications

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Her Believing Heart ventures into areas of human experience very few explore. It recounts a journey of radical acceptance and reclamation. A universe of diverse relationships condenses into "self" as the poet reshapes her body, mind, and spirit. Like river rocks churning in a tumbler, the poet grinds against her boundaries until she becomes smooth, polished, and newly formed as she learns that impact and friction are part of all transformations. At times the reader may wonder how deeply the work will plumb an experience. Some will hope no further. Others will revel in complete transparency.

              --Marilyn Zecher and B.B. Riefner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She circles in silent endurance,
a jewel at the throat of chaos.
Like a nurturing breast in midnight's nursery,
she is loved and taken for granted...
 

Jennifer Polhemus grew up in a place where all the important roads led to the Potomac River. It was a place where bridges blocked or began journeys. It was a place filled with changelings, drifting or refusing to cross state and district lines into stranger cultures. Some left by boat or bus or brain. Others stayed, like ghosts forever haunting hills, forts, cemeteries, galleries, and parks. Jennifer left 20 years ago only to discover that all the important roads lead to a river, to a choice between crossing... or not. Regularly, perhaps mercifully, the moon pulls waters back and, if Jennifer is wise, she sometimes sees what she's getting into. She is, unfortunately, not yet all that wise. All this being said, the moon remains dependable and patient, although sometimes she sighs and wags her head.

B.B. Riefner wrote with chalk on blackboards and a 1918 typewriter in South America, Europe, and Africa. Today, he and his wife live near Washington, DC with a canine muse and a computer which must be fed daily. His most popular work is Mind Travels, a collection of short stories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This book treats family and form with curiosity and precision. Jennifer Polhemus urges meaningful attention to the routine details of domestic experience that reveal authentic identity. Acrostics, haiku, and other form poems take the reflection deeper. Perhaps, like the poet, you will forget what day it is and fall up to the sun. But it will be alright. The children will know where to find you.

--Skylark Bruce, author of "I Wish" and "Graffiti Wisdom"