Kirjahaku

The poems in EVIDENCE OF FLOSSING: WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND are, at their heart, love poems to the something greater within all of us. Inspired by Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and Mary Oliver, naturalist Jen Payne explores the essence of spiritual ecology: the human condition juxtaposed to the natural world and the possibility of divine connection. NPR contributor David Berner calls it, "an unflinching account of our unshakeable relationship to the modern world...God, nature, and ourselves."80 original and vintage color photographs include a series of discarded dental flossers that prompted the title of the book.

"Not till we are lost, in other words not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves, and realize where we are and the infinite extent of our relations." - Henry David ThoreauPoems on death, grief, and gratitude, dedicated to the memory of MaryAnne Siok.Reflecting on the sudden loss of a close friend, author Jen Payne returns, as she does in her past books LOOK UP and Evidence of Flossing, to the solace of nature. On the opening pages, she allows the poet Rilke to remind the reader "Through the empty branches the sky remains. It is what you have. Be earth now, and evensong. Be the ground lying under that sky." Written from the shoreline of Connecticut and the wide and windswept beaches of Cape Cod, this book is an intimate look at life transitions and how we cope with the unexpected.

"She thought about him often over the years. Looked him up online occasionally to see where he was and if he was all right. It wasn't until last fall that she found his email address, and several months more before she got up the courage to write."So begins the epistolary novel WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE by Connecticut writer Jen Payne, a sort-of love story told through a series of emails, about two people who reconnect after 15 years apart and work to reconcile their pasts...and futures. Influenced by the work of Bren Brown and a proponent of the bravery of storytelling, Payne says "WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE is about having the courage to speak our truths; it's about trust and vulnerability, and about the true blessings found when we open our hearts - come what may." For more information, visit www.3chairspublishing.com.