Pam Wynn •

Diamonds on the Back of a Snake

An imagistic, lyrical poet, Pam Wynn skillfully leads us down the spiritual path that she frequents. Through her poetry, she boldly challenges the assumptions of our American culture, particularly our treatment of the homeless and the mentally ill. After reading Wynn's Diamonds on the Back of a Snake, you will be surprised to discover that she has inspired you to examine your deepest existential and religious questions.

Praise for Diamonds on the Back of a Snake

Pam Wynn faces illness, depression, fears, and social injustice with courage, honesty, and a fierce searching for redemption — Susan Deborah King, author of Tabernacle: Poems of an Island (Island Institute, 2001)

About Pam

The poetry of Pam Wynn has appeared in a variety of regional and national publications and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She has also completed a libretto for the opera “Ruth” in collaboration with composer Barbara J. Rogers. Pam currently teaches at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.

Hope

God is nowhere to be found —

In the house, neighborhood, church.

Still, there was one night, a star-

Eaten sky found me resting

On a hill and the moon sliced

Through the darkness in the road

To shadowy spirits of

Women on their knees singing,

Praying, digging with bare hands.

From Diamonds on the Back of a Snake, by Pam Wynn

Pam on Writing Poetry

My faith and poetry are integrally related. Each deepens, informs, and sustains the other. I thirst for God, to penetrate to the heart of things, to plunge into the mysterious, to strip away whatever prevents me from experiencing the divine. In poetry, I seek to stand on holy ground before the burning bush — the blaze that burns but does not consume.

From The Double Meaning of Yield: Laurel Poets on Writing Poetry