Ringing the Changes, March 24

This is the title of Kathleen McCoy’s new book due out in June from Finishing Line Press. On this pleasant Sunday afternoon in Glens Falls she gave an informal reading among friends from the book at the First Baptist Church. Finishing Line Press likes for its authors to drum up pre-orders, upon which they base their eventual print runs, so Kathy used this event to drum up orders & to hold a raffle for a free copy; I had already submitted my pre-order after I got the email about the event.

Kathy explained that the poems in this collection began with poems she was writing for the church for holidays such as Christmas & Lent, then put out tiny bells on the tables we were siting around because, she said, “Bells keep coming back” in her poems. Consequently, at random moments during the afternoon there was the tinkling of bells accenting the conversations as well as the poems.

The poems she read were on verses from the New Testament but went beyond the religious setting to a larger spiritual message. The first she described as “a Lent poem” was in the persona of Nicodemus, a Pharisee who went to Jesus to discuss his teachings (see John 3:8). The next poem was titled “The Woman at the Well,” based on John 4:9, in which Jesus asked a Samaritan woman for a drink of water, & was in the voice of the woman. Kathy also read excerpts from a longer poem titled “Mary at Golgotha” which was based on John 19:25.

The poems, while based on New Testament scriptures, transcended the texts to talk about the larger messages of compassion & the wonder of human interaction. I’m looking forward to having these & the other poems in Ringing the Changes in my hand to read & ponder.

You can find out how to pre-order your copy at https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/ringing-the-changes-by-kathleen-mccoy/