by Ben Bishop

If you’ve haven’t been to a monastery lately, you’re in the overwhelming majority for many U.S. citizens. But for the minority that has, it’s an experience that is not easily translated—in any form. Among the minority, Kelly Moffett has been going frequently for the past four years to many Trappist Monasteries to, “gain a deeper understanding of silence (what’s hidden there).” I find myself in an even smaller minority, one that has had the privilege to be at a Trappist Monastery with Kelly Moffett, but she, being brave, has focused her efforts/learning/experience/wisdom into her new collection of poems When the God of Water enters your Basement, Bow (Salmon Poetry, Spring 2013). I bow at the thought of such an endeavor.

Kelly is a graduate of WVU, and left with her MA and MFA in in 2004. Her first book was published by Cinnamon Press in May of 2008, entitled Waiting for a Warm Body to Fill It. She is now waiting in the wing for the release of her new chapbook (Ghost Act) through Dancing Girl Press and the previously mentioned collection through Salmon Poetry. Outside of publishing, she started teaching at a small liberal arts college, Kentucky Wesleyan, shortly after her time at WVU, until she accepted a tenure track position teaching Creative Writing at NKU in 2010. She very much is enjoying her current position, and says “being able to talk with good students about what [she loves] every day.” And even with this rap sheet of academic accomplishments and commitments, she has found time to adventure into the “silence” of the monastery.

It’s obvious she still relishes her time at WVU, listing off faculty that touched her life and influenced her writing career—too numerous to name—and also being blessed by the Sturm Writer in Residence program that gave her the opportunity to work with Dean Young, Mark Halliday, and Stephen Dunn. Between these great opportunities with renowned artists and the broad range of classes she was able to take, WVU formed a foundation for her academic career and a nurturing environment for her writing style. It was this nurturing environment that was then passed on to me, when she was my advisor and mentor during my undergraduate career at Kentucky Wesleyan College.

It was a cool spring day in 2009, and after a long van ride we finally arrived at Gethsemani Abbey in Trappist, KY. My fellow students, the instructor for the course, Kelly Moffett, and I had been looking forward to this moment for quite some time. This particular monastery is the final resting place of Thomas Merton—in my opinion, one of the brightest Christian scholars of the 20th century. And while I could elaborate, ad infinitum, on what I learned about this man during our trip and reading one of his books, I also remember sitting with my instructors during one of the daily masses, reveling in the silence and song, feeling truly at peace. I could also go on about how the trees on the grounds seemed to look fuller and more vibrant, the water more still, the stone warmer, but what I took away was something else entirely: I felt value for my individual self. During an era of uncertainty, I found worth in my gifts and person, and felt valued for the work I was doing with poetry. As it stands now, I’m entering my third year of the MFA program here at WVU, and I really don’t think I can begin to quantify what I owe to Kelly for where I am in my own academic studies and poetry craftsmanship.

Her advice on publishing collections of poems (enter the publisher contests!) and on staying in, what Jane Hirshfield calls the “mind of concentration” is advice I take with heart and will be giving to my own students this fall while teaching at WVU. And I may tell them to go visit a monastery too, but we’ll see how well that goes over. In her poem “After a Miscarriage” she writes, “When my face appears in the glass, I’ll blink,” but after getting to know the distilled language and pure heart she bravely puts on display in her work, maybe something different will await you in the mirror. Or, perhaps, you may find peace with you have always found there.

Kelly Moffett teaches in the undergraduate and graduate programs at Northern Kentucky University. Her work has appeared in national journals such as Colorado Review, Cincinnati Review, Laurel Review, and Rattle and international journals such as Envoi and Versal. Her books include Waiting for a Warm Body (Cinnamon Press), When the God of Water enters your Basement, Bow (Salmon Poetry, Spring 2013), and Ghost Act (Spring 2013).