Ordinary Time: a book of hours, by Peter Vanderberg

Poetry, chapbook, 28 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

Ordinary Time is a lyrical meditation on the intersections of faith, ecology, and daily life, shaped as a modern “book of hours.” Moving through the cadence of liturgical prayer—Matins, Lauds, Vespers—these poems pair with observational drawings made in the same spirit of contemplation. Together, they invite readers to linger in the quiet revelations of tide and wind, gull and osprey, drought and late rains. Born from the tradition of lectio divina and the rhythms of the natural world, this chapbook becomes a contemplative space where scripture, memory, and presence blend into a single prayer.

Through sparse lines and hand-drawn images, the book speaks in a voice both personal and elemental. Sailboats tack into wind, children learn to draw, and even the smallest gesture—sketching gulls in flight, noticing ivy reach for light—becomes a form of devotion. Ordinary Time is for those who seek the divine in ordinary days and who understand that nature, like faith and art, demands both attention and care.

Peter Vanderberg is the editor of Ghostbird Press and a PhD student at St. John’s University. He is the author of several chapbooks including celestial navigation, war/torn, and Crossing Pleasant Lake. He lives and teaches on Long Island.