MARK: A JOURNAL OF CHRISTIAN POETS

MARK IS A JOURNAL OF CHRISTIAN POETS.

THE POETS IN THIS JOURNAL WRITE BEFORE GOD.

POEMS DO NOT NEED TO HAVE RELIGIOUS THEMES, LANGUAGE, REFERENCES, OR CONTENT TO BE DEVOTIONAL; IN FACT, WE THINK THAT SOMETIMES THE MOST RELIGIOUS WRITING IS NOT EXPLICITLY SO.

DEVOTIONAL IS NOT THE SAME AS PIOUS. DEVOTION IS NOT PLEASANT. IT IS ONLY SOMETIMES JOYFUL.

MARK EXCLUSIVELY PUBLISHES NEW WORK.

SUBMISSIONS TO MARK 3 ARE CURRENTLY OPEN.

PLEASE SEND 5-10 POEMS TO EDITORS@MARKPOETRY.COM IN A SINGLE WORD DOC. WITH YOUR NAME AND YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS ON THE FIRST PAGE.

SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS ALLOWED. WE PAY $25/POEM. MARK IS PUBLISHED TWICE YEARLY. WE MAY OFFER EDITS PRIOR TO ACCEPTANCE. OUR JOURNAL HAS A VERY LOW PAGE COUNT. WE CANNOT ACCEPT MANY OF THE POEMS WE LOVE.

WE NOMINATE TO BEST SPIRITUAL LITERATURE, BEST NEW POETS, AND THE PUSHCART PRIZE SERIES, SUBMIT TO VERSE DAILY ETC., AND ARE DISTRIBUTED BY ASTERISM BOOKS.

SAM BAILEY & EMMA DE LISLE
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

TALIN TAHAJIAN
ASSOCIATE EDITOR

JAMES FRASER
GENERAL EDITOR

BELLA BENNETT
DESIGNER

STAIRCASE BOOKS
PUBLISHER

CLICK HERE TO BUY MARK 2.

POEMS BY
JOSH BELL
CHRIS CROWDER
CARISSA CHEN
JOSH GREGORY
G.C. WALDREP

AND INTERVIEWS WITH
KIMBERLY JOHNSON
FANNY HOWE (GUEST INTERVIEW BY ASKOLD MELNYCZUK)

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WHEN WE WERE FIRST BECOMING FRIENDS, THE TWO OF US WOULD MEET UP AT THE OFTEN-EMPTY PHO ’N RICE ON BEACON STREET IN SOMERVILLE AND MORE OR LESS SCREAM AT EACH OTHER ABOUT CHRISTIANITY AND POETRY OVER THE RESTAURANT’S MID-2010S PLAYLIST. WHETHER WE WERE TALKING ABOUT TOMAŽ ŠALAMUN, ADÉLIA PRADO, LUCINDA WILLIAMS, DENIS JOHNSON, OR GEORG TRAKL, THESE CONVERSATIONS KEPT BRINGING US BACK TO THE SAME EARLY FIFTH-CENTURY MONK, JOHN CASSIAN. IN THE TENTH CHAPTER OF CASSIAN’S CONFERENCES, HE INSTRUCTS THE NOVICE BROTHER TO CHANT THE PSALMS “NOT AS THOUGH THEY HAD BEEN COMPOSED BY THE PROPHET [DAVID], BUT AS IF [THE MONK] HIMSELF HAD WRITTEN THEM, AS IF [THE PSALM] WERE HIS OWN PRIVATE PRAYER UTTERED AMID THE DEEPEST COMPUNCTION OF HEART.” CASSIAN GOES ON: “SEIZED OF THE IDENTICAL FEELINGS IN WHICH THE PSALM WAS COMPOSED OR SUNG WE BECOME, AS IT WERE, ITS AUTHOR. WE ANTICIPATE ITS IDEA INSTEAD OF FOLLOWING IT. WE HAVE A SENSE OF IT EVEN BEFORE WE MAKE OUT THE MEANING OF THE WORDS” (OUR EMPHASIS). SIMPLY PUT, THESE MONKS PERFORM THE ACT OF READING SO INTENTLY, SO DESPERATELY EVEN, THAT THE ACT OF READING FEELS LIKE THE EXPERIENCE OF WRITING.

IN THE BACK OF EACH ISSUE OF MARK, WE REPRINT THE CORRESPONDING KJV GOSPEL CHAPTER (I.E. YOU’LL FIND THE SECOND CHAPTER OF MARK IN THE BACK OF THIS BOOK). FOR US, THE DEVOTIONAL WRITER IS CONSTANTLY INHABITING SCRIPTURE, OR AT LEAST ATTEMPTING TO INHABIT IT BY READING THE WORD CLOSELY, BY DIGESTING ITS JOY AND VIOLENCE, UNTIL THAT WORD BECOMES THE WRITER. LIKE CASSIAN’S MONKS, IF WE READ CLOSELY ENOUGH, IF OUR STRUGGLE BECOMES THE TEXT’S STRUGGLE, THEN WE MIGHT, AT SOME POINT, FLIP FROM BEING BYSTANDERS TO PARTICIPANTS—AND NOT JUST PARTICIPANTS IN THE BIBLICAL NARRATIVE, BUT PARTICIPANTS IN THE META-STORY OF HOW THE WORD GETS WRITTEN DOWN.

IN THIS ISSUE, WE CLOSE READ THE SECOND CHAPTER OF THE GOSPEL OF MARK WITH KIMBERLY JOHNSON, WHO EXTENDS HER OWN POETICS AND EXPERTISE IN SACRAMENTAL THEOLOGY INTO THE STORY OF THE PARALYTIC.

ADDITIONALLY, THIS ISSUE INCLUDES A GUEST READING OF MARK 2 BY ASKOLD MELNYCZUK AND FANNY HOWE, COMPLETED ONLY TWO WEEKS BEFORE FANNY’S PASSING THIS JULY. BOTH CONVERSATIONS ILLUSTRATE THE POROSITY OF THE BORDER BETWEEN WRITING AND READING. TOGETHER WITH OUR GUEST POETS, WE WANT TO READ MARK CLOSELY ENOUGH THAT WE START TO SHARE IN THE PERSONALITY OF THE GOSPEL, AND MORE SO, FOLLOWING CASSIAN, IN ITS CREATION.

IN BIOTECH-, MARATHON-OBSESSED BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ONE IS HIT WITH THE QUESTION WHAT MAKES YOU UNIQUE? ABOUT THREE THOUSAND TIMES A DAY. BUT THE DEVOTIONAL CHRISTIAN WRITER IS ASKED THE OPPOSITE: HOW ARE YOU LIKE CHRIST? THE PRACTICE OF ATTEMPTING TO MIRROR CHRIST IS CALLED IMITATIO, AND HAS ITS ROOTS IN GALATIANS 2:20, WHERE PAUL WRITES “I HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST AND I NO LONGER LIVE, BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME.” CASSIAN APPLIES THIS LOGIC IN AN IMITATIO OF DAVID, THE PSALMIST, WHO IS HIMSELF A MOUTHPIECE OF CHRIST. EACH IN THEIR OWN WAY, THE POETS IN THIS JOURNAL APPLY THE SAME LOGIC, ASKING NOT HOW AM I ORIGINAL? IN A SECULAR SENSE, BUT HOW DO I WRITE FROM THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD?

WE ARE NOT SAYING JOSH BELL, CHRIS CROWDER, CARISSA CHEN, JOSH GREGORY, AND G.C. WALDREP ARE GOSPEL WRITERS. NOR THAT THEY’RE EXPLICITLY READING CASSIAN, OR CONSIDER THEMSELVES EXPLICITLY ENGAGED IN THE PRACTICE OF IMITATIO. WE AREN’T SAYING THAT THEY’RE DIVINELY TOUCHED (THOUGH IF YOU’VE MET THESE PEOPLE, THEY’RE VERY GOOD). BUT IN A JOURNAL OF CHRISTIAN POETS, WE AS READERS ARE GIVEN LICENSE TO VIEW THE WORK IN THE FOLLOWING PAGES WITHIN THIS TRADITION OF DEVOTIONAL CHRISTIAN WRITING, AND, THEREFORE, OF IMITATIO; THE TRADITION OF VIEWING A PRAYER—OR A POEM—AS A RECITATION THAT SOMEHOW MAKES WRITERS OF US ALL.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO PARTICIPATE IN THIS MAD TASK: OUR WRITERS, OUR INTERLOCUTERS, STAIRCASE BOOKS, OUR EDITORIAL TEAM, AND OUR GROWING COMMUNITY OF READERS. A PARTICULAR THANKS TO OUR TEACHER, JOSH BELL. GOD’S LOVE FOR FANNY HOWE—SOME PEOPLE AREN’T MEANT TO BE CAUGHT. EVERY TIME A DEVOTIONAL WRITER OR READER COMES OUT OF THE WOODWORK AND FINDS US, IT FEELS LIKE ANOTHER LIGHTNING BOLT. OUR WORLD IS SMALL. WE ARE HAPPY TO KNOW YOU.

EMMA AND SAM
SEPTEMBER 12, 2025

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