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101 Poems and Scriptures for the Hungry, Hopeful, and Homesick

by Laura Wifler

A quietly tender collection of 101 poems and paired Scriptures that invites readers to slow down, sit with longing, and find solace in honest, faith‑shaped reflection.

Summary

This Side of the Sky gathers lyrical, contemplative poems alongside Scripture selections to minister to the hungry, hopeful, and homesick. The collection moves between personal ache and spiritual longing—motherhood, loss, wonder, and the small, sacred moments of everyday life—offering short, resonant pieces meant for reading slowly or returning to in seasons of need. The author’s social‑media origin story (sharing lyrical pieces that readers identified as poetry) informs the book’s intimate, conversational tone and its emphasis on accessibility.

What works

• Emotional honesty: The poems name longing and doubt without flattening them into tidy answers, which creates space for readers to grieve, hope, and breathe.
• Spiritual pairing: Scripture placed alongside poems deepens the devotional potential and helps the collection function as both poetry book and spiritual resource.
• Approachable craft: Wifler’s lines favor clarity and feeling over dense experimentation, making the book welcoming to readers new to contemporary Christian poetry.
• Varied moods: Short lyric pieces alternate between quiet consolation and sharper, more searching moments, keeping the reader engaged across many brief entries.

What doesn’t

• Style preference: Readers who prefer more formal, image‑driven, or experimental poetry may find the voice too plain or conversational.
• Uneven distinctiveness: With 101 pieces, some poems inevitably blend into one another; a few stand out vividly while others read as variations on similar themes.
• Depth for critics: Those seeking sustained, long‑form poetic argument or dense metaphorical layering may want a slimmer, more concentrated selection.

Themes and context

Wifler’s collection sits at the intersection of devotional literature and contemporary lyric: it’s designed to be read devotionally—one poem and Scripture at a time—yet it also rewards readers who trace recurring motifs of motherhood, exile, and spiritual hunger across the book. The Instagram origin story the author shares helps explain the book’s immediacy and its pastoral bent: these are poems meant to be companions in ordinary life, not puzzles to be solved. Readers who value tenderness, spiritual honesty, and short, repeatable readings will find this collection especially nourishing.

Recommended for: readers who enjoy faith‑centered, accessible poetry; those looking for short, reflective pieces to read during quiet moments; and fans who followed Wifler’s lyrical posts online. Less suited for readers seeking formally experimental or highly allusive poetry.

Publication details: Pub date September 15, 2026; Tyndale Momentum.