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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
  • Karissa Knox Sorrell
  • Alex Quick
  • 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
  • Elisabeth McClanahan
  • Robert Andy Coombs
  • Lisa Witz
  • 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
  • Amy Nemecek
  • Joy Riggs
  • David Stewart
  • John Davis Jr.
  • Ingrid Lochamire
  • Nora Kirkham
  • Peter Freedman-Doan
  • Sara Sterley
  • Larry Kamphausen
  • Kendra Stanton Lee
  • Amanda Hiland
  • Rick Kempa
  • Julie Keefer
  • Christopher Smit
  • Lynne S. Viti
  • Travis Poling
  • Devon Balwit
  • Valerie Bacharach
  • Jennifer Crow
  • Jeff Santosuosso
  • Jacob Miller
  • Robert Peace Jordan
  • Thomas Swann
  • Gail Walters
  • Lee Hull Moses
  • Daniel Silliman
  • Paul Douglas McNeill II
  • D.S. Leiter
  • Matt Prater
  • Amy Oestreicher
  • Christie Walkuski
  • Deborah Bowen
  • Laura Fabrycky
  • Carolyn Adams
  • Lynn White
  • Amelia Rhodes
  • Jill McDonough
  • Rachel Marie Stone
  • Donald Illich
  • Lindsy Wallace
  • Heather Hutchison
  • Kathy Fenton-Miller
  • Nate Maxson
  • Ched Myers
  • Daniel Roy Connelly
  • Sam Gesch
  • Larry-Michael Hackenberg
  • Jeff Burt
  • Lorraine Caputo
  • Jacque Rowe Fields
  • Christopher Smith
  • Eileen R. Kinch
  • Lauren Wayne
  • Catherine Woodiwiss
  • Shawndra Miller
  • Andy Rogers
  • Jennifer Hernandez
  • Hannah Thyberg
  • Michael Penny
  • Katie Reich
  • June Mears Driedger
  • Jennifer Martelli
  • Kenneth Arthur
  • Nina Bannett
  • Claire Ibarra
  • Nicole Carlin
  • Danielle Germaine
  • Nathan Van Hoff
  • Alexa Shearer
  • Heidi Fettig Parton
  • Marylu Dykstra
  • Mary Ann Honaker
  • Lea Page
  • Joel Schueler
  • Mike Wilson
  • Gwen DiPietro
  • Matthew Deames
  • Wm. Anthony Connolly
  • Ruth Asher
  • Geneva Langeland
  • Joy-Elizabeth Lawrence
  • Erin O'Connor-Garcia
  • Elisavietta Ritchie
  • Cat Dixon
  • Sophie Blanc
  • Clinton Inman
  • Kierstan Barbre
  • Nate Al Attas-Bradford
  • Stefanie Möser Zitö
  • Ann Klotz
  • Joyce H. Munro
  • Tamra Carraher
  • Amy Hetletvedt
  • Chris Fuller
  • Gary Guthrie
  • Brandon Marlon
  • Samuel J. Fox
  • Kurt Armstrong
  • Celine B. Roque
  • Griffin Paul Jackson
  • Jerry Berrigan
  • Nathaniel Harper-Brees
  • Vincent A. Cellucci
  • Denise Vredevoogd
  • John Yohe
  • Erica Schemper
  • Kate Bowman-Johnston
  • Debra Dieppa
  • Aaron Nell
  • Mark Andrew Heathcote
  • Stephanie Nikolopoulos
  • Hardeep Sabharwal
  • Katie Rendon Kahn
  • Ben Brazil
  • Kendall Vanderslice
  • Mike Finley
  • Emily Ulmer
  • Jim Schmotzer
  • Zach Bartz
  • Kristina England
  • Karen Fitz La Barge
  • Amanda Cleary Eastep
  • Grant Elgersma
  • Josh MacIvor-Andersen
  • Katie Houston
  • Jennifer Monroe
  • L. L. Barkat
  • Amie Adams
  • Barbara Ruth
  • Matthew Landrum
  • Jeremy Huggins
  • Alan Van Wyk
  • Jacqueline Ristola
  • Rebecca Wolff
  • Robert Stout
  • Jeffrey Allen Mays
  • Michael Knowles
  • 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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