The Word for When

 

The Word for When is a collection of poems of serenity and yearning, relationships and faith, memory and hope. The book is a kind of pilgrimage, beginning in the realm of “Then,” which includes visits to the French-speaking rural Missouri of the author’s mother’s family; “Now,” which asks questions of present and imminent conditions; and ending in “When?” hoping for joy, reunion, and love. The poems previously appeared in Louisiana Literature, the Journal of College Writing, Ekphrasis, and other venues. 

 

About the Author

Denise M. Rogers received her MFA from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. She taught writing, literature, and humanities courses at the University of Louisiana for twenty-eight years. Following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother, her passion in retirement is quilting.

 

Praise for The Word for When

“Denise Rogers’s new collection is the rare book dense with gravity pulling me eagerly page to page. The poems in The Word for When draw us in with pure belief—in design, in color, in honor, in nature’s sanctity, and, most of all, in hope. And for all of it, I am in this collection’s, this poet’s, debt.”—Jack B. Bedell, Louisiana Poet Laureate, 2017–2019, author of Ghost Forest

“Denise Rogers’s poems are rooted in mastery of language. Anchored in night thoughts, falling cherry blossoms, abandoned cars, garden benches, crows in gold fields, and more, these poems are triumphs in the magic of storytelling.”—Darrell Bourque, Louisiana Poet Laureate 2007–2011, author of Until We Talk

“The Word for When meticulously captures quiet moments with a photographer’s specificity. Often rooted in the natural world . . . Rogers also has an uncanny way of connecting to the past, traveling and being transportive with poems about Lazarus, Icarus, St, Francis and Demeter. Her poems are purposeful. They awaken the senses and the mind in ways that are both meditative and astonishing.”—Gina Ferrara, author of AMISS

“These poems contemplate what changes, and what should, in a world rife with complications. . . . When the word for when is too often now or even yesterday, such tranquility from this excellent poet is a welcome balm.”—Tyler Robert Sheldon, editor-in-chief of MockingHeart Review, author of Everything is Ghosts

 

© 2025 Denise Rogers

Paperback, 80 pages | 5" x 8" | ISBN: 978-1-959569-20-6 | Spring 2025