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Topology Magazine - Artful dispatches from the places where we find ourselves Artful dispatches from the places where we find ourselves
  • Essay
    • The violence of frenzy
      The violence of frenzy
    • The sound of roots
      The sound of roots
    • Summer’s lease
      Summer’s lease
    • Editorial
    • Throwback
  • Poetry
  • Image
    • Deep Roots
      Deep Roots
    • Hope and Expectation
      Hope and Expectation
    • No Trespassing
      No Trespassing
  • Quote
  • Themes
    • Upcoming
    • Volume 1
      • 0.1 Intro
      • 1.1 Margins
      • 1.2 Living with the Seasons
      • 1.3 Thriftiness
      • 1.4 Noise and Silence
      • 1.5 Bodies
      • 1.6 Transportation
      • 1.7 Waterways
      • 1.8 My Economy
      • 1.9 Sharing Food
      • 1.10 Coming and Going
    • 2.1 Labor
    • 2.2 Bridges
    • 2.3 Shops & Stores
    • 2.4 The Darkest Night
    • 2.5 Sabbath
    • 2.6 Local Government
    • 2.7 Solastalgia
    • 2.8 Borders & Boundaries
    • 2.9 Play

Thomas Swann

Thomas Swann recently moved from the flat cornfields of Indiana to the mountains of North Carolina. There he lives and works at The Southern Dharma Retreat Center. His tasks are varied as is the journey of life. He enjoys walking in the hills, reading and writing when time allows. With all the newness around he is just settling in to see what surfaces.

We are mirrors born in labor
EssaySeptember 12, 2016

We are mirrors born in labor

By Thomas Swann

I grew up knowing only one of my grandfathers. My father’s father worked in the laundry business—hot work with vapors rising even on a…

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About Topology

Topology Magazine

Topology Magazine is a place for active contemplation through prose, poetry, and art: the produce of thoughtful labor in the places where we find ourselves. Each person is inextricably tied to their physical location, and Topology cultivates that connection by publishing work which explicitly or implicitly recognizes the influence of place. Read more …

Contributors

  • Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma
  • Deborah Haak
  • Henry Bakker
  • Elisabeth Wenger
  • Rob Vander Giessen-Reitsma
  • S. Alexandra Harper
  • mt
  • the daily asterisk
  • Marjorie Maddox
  • Alex Joyner
  • Katie Hoogendam
  • Alex Quick
  • Karissa Knox Sorrell
  • William Overbeeke
  • Amy Carpenter-Leugs
  • Laura Menze
  • Naomi Wenger
  • Bethany Beachum
  • Tom Springer
  • Brett Beasley
  • Name Withheld
  • Deborah Lewis
  • Carol Stephen
  • Kathryn T. Jones
  • Aline Lindemann
  • Raechelle Kennedy
  • Bill Boerman-Cornell
  • Scott Peterson
  • Uche Ogbuji
  • Brother Abraham Newsom
  • Robert Andy Coombs
  • Lisa Witz
  • Elisabeth McClanahan
  • Neil E. Das
  • Gail Heffner
  • Luke Johnston
  • Alek Frost
  • Ian Randall Wilson
  • John Pierce
  • Sylvia Keesmaat
  • Chris Bullard
  • Katie Karnehm-Esh
  • Denise Frame Harlan
  • A. Non
  • Randy Smit
  • Jeff Gundy
  • Monica Sharman
  • J.C. Elkin
  • Christine Darragh
  • Joy Riggs
  • David Stewart
  • Amy Nemecek
  • Ingrid Lochamire
  • John Davis Jr.
  • Nora Kirkham
  • Peter Freedman-Doan
  • Larry Kamphausen
  • Amanda Hiland
  • Lynne S. Viti
  • Julie Keefer
  • Rick Kempa
  • Christopher Smit
  • Kendra Stanton Lee
  • Sara Sterley
  • Devon Balwit
  • Travis Poling
  • Jeff Santosuosso
  • Jennifer Crow
  • Jacob Miller
  • Valerie Bacharach
  • Thomas Swann
  • Gail Walters
  • Robert Peace Jordan
  • Matt Prater
  • D.S. Leiter
  • Paul Douglas McNeill II
  • Lee Hull Moses
  • Daniel Silliman
  • Christie Walkuski
  • Amy Oestreicher
  • Deborah Bowen
  • Lynn White
  • Laura Fabrycky
  • Carolyn Adams
  • Donald Illich
  • Jill McDonough
  • Rachel Marie Stone
  • Lindsy Wallace
  • Amelia Rhodes
  • Kathy Fenton-Miller
  • Ched Myers
  • Nate Maxson
  • Heather Hutchison
  • Jeff Burt
  • Jacque Rowe Fields
  • Lorraine Caputo
  • Larry-Michael Hackenberg
  • Daniel Roy Connelly
  • Sam Gesch
  • Christopher Smith
  • Lauren Wayne
  • Catherine Woodiwiss
  • Eileen R. Kinch
  • Andy Rogers
  • Hannah Thyberg
  • Shawndra Miller
  • Jennifer Hernandez
  • June Mears Driedger
  • Katie Reich
  • Michael Penny
  • Kenneth Arthur
  • Jennifer Martelli
  • Danielle Germaine
  • Claire Ibarra
  • Nathan Van Hoff
  • Nina Bannett
  • Nicole Carlin
  • Alexa Shearer
  • Marylu Dykstra
  • Lea Page
  • Heidi Fettig Parton
  • Mary Ann Honaker
  • Gwen DiPietro
  • Mike Wilson
  • Joel Schueler
  • Wm. Anthony Connolly
  • Matthew Deames
  • Ruth Asher
  • Cat Dixon
  • Elisavietta Ritchie
  • Joy-Elizabeth Lawrence
  • Sophie Blanc
  • Geneva Langeland
  • Erin O'Connor-Garcia
  • Nate Al Attas-Bradford
  • Stefanie Möser Zitö
  • Kierstan Barbre
  • Clinton Inman
  • Joyce H. Munro
  • Ann Klotz
  • Tamra Carraher
  • Chris Fuller
  • Samuel J. Fox
  • Gary Guthrie
  • Brandon Marlon
  • Amy Hetletvedt
  • Griffin Paul Jackson
  • Celine B. Roque
  • Kurt Armstrong
  • Nathaniel Harper-Brees
  • Jerry Berrigan
  • Vincent A. Cellucci
  • John Yohe
  • Erica Schemper
  • Denise Vredevoogd
  • Debra Dieppa
  • Mark Andrew Heathcote
  • Stephanie Nikolopoulos
  • Aaron Nell
  • Kate Bowman-Johnston
  • Katie Rendon Kahn
  • Ben Brazil
  • Kendall Vanderslice
  • Hardeep Sabharwal
  • Mike Finley
  • Amanda Cleary Eastep
  • Jim Schmotzer
  • Karen Fitz La Barge
  • Kristina England
  • Grant Elgersma
  • Emily Ulmer
  • Zach Bartz
  • Jennifer Monroe
  • L. L. Barkat
  • Katie Houston
  • Josh MacIvor-Andersen
  • Matthew Landrum
  • Amie Adams
  • Jeremy Huggins
  • Barbara Ruth
  • Jacqueline Ristola
  • Rebecca Wolff
  • Alan Van Wyk
  • Jeffrey Allen Mays
  • Michael Knowles
  • Robert Stout
  • Rob Testing

Join Topology

We're looking for writers, artists, practitioners, and more to contribute to the magazine. Please get in touch or join our contributor e-mail list to receive our regular pitch calls.

Featured

  • The violence of frenzy
    The violence of frenzy
  • The sound of roots
    The sound of roots
  • Summer's lease
    Summer’s lease
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