Secret Flower

Jane Tyson Clement (1917–2000) was a writer and poet who has been compared with her contemporaries Denise Levertov, Wendell Berry, and Jane Kenyon. Born to Quaker parents, she grew up in Manhattan but preferred Bay Head, New Jersey, where the family owned a summer house. After graduating from Smith College, Jane became a teacher and married Robert Allen Clement, a Quaker attorney and fellow pacifist.Despite her privileged background, Jane was disturbed by the injustices she saw around her and yearned to do something constructive with her life. Eventually this search led her to God. In 1954, the Clements joined the Bruderhof, a community dedicated to practicing Jesus’ teachings of nonviolence, sharing, and social justice. Here Jane taught school, raised seven children, and, through her poetry and fiction, continued her search for wholeness and truth. Her poems are collected in No One Can Stem the Tide.A noted speaker and writer on marriage, parenting, and end-of-life issues, Arnold is a senior pastor of the Bruderhof, a movement of Christian communities. With his wife, Verena, he has counseled thousands of individuals and families over the last forty years. His books include Why Forgive?, Rich in Years, Seeking Peace, Cries from the Heart, Be Not Afraid, and Why Children Matter.Arnold's message has been shaped by encounters with great peacemakers such as Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, César Chavez, and John Paul II. Together with paralyzed police officer Steven McDonald, Arnold started the Breaking the Cycle program, working with students at hundreds of public high schools to promote reconciliation through forgiveness. This work has also brought him to conflict zones from Northern Ireland to Rwanda to the Middle East. Closer to home, he serves as chaplain for the local sheriff's department.Born in Britain in 1940 to German refugees, Arnold spent his boyhood years in South America, where his parents found asylum during the war; he immigrated to the United States in 1955. He and his wife have eight children, 42 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. They live in upstate New York.To learn more visit www.richinyears.com

• Contentsbird on the bare branch (poem)The Sparrowstruggle (poem)The Storm7the master (poem)The Innkeeper’s Son3the chain (poem)The King of the Land inthe Middlenow breaks the ice (poem)The White Robinthe gate (poem)The Secret FlowerOh Seek (poem)

Beautiful…offers quietude in the midst of cacophony and literary cynicism.