Well, November is running away from us and so far I’ve only managed one poem for my 12 Poets Project this month. So it’s time for another one, this one inspired by Denise Levertov’s wondering “Flickering Mind”, one of the best poetic expressions I have read of the human mind’s struggle with religious devotion. YouContinue reading “Being (After Denise Levertov’s “Flickering Mind”)”
Tag Archives: doubt
The Fig-Tree and the Worm
When complaint has its basis in the nature of the divine, appealing to justice and mercy and truth, waiting for signs which tarry now yet will come without delay, when complaining stands atContinue reading “The Fig-Tree and the Worm”
Empirical
Doubt erodes, and reason feeds on the brain that needs it, but eyes can trust what they see and lives the truth they know and hearts can feel the hope stretched out on the living tree and breath gives life to lungs that will open and receive it.
George MacDonald and the Regenerated Imagination
Well, our month of looking at George MacDonald is now finished, and to conclude it here is an essay I have written on MacDonald’s work. We have been focusing here through August on MacDonald’s poetry, but his work was far broader than that, so this essay considers not only his poetry but also his manyContinue reading “George MacDonald and the Regenerated Imagination”
Fragments of a Prayer (After George MacDonald’s “A Broken Prayer”)
I’ve been slipping behind a bit in my poetry project this month. There’s been a lot going on in my life! But it’s time to start catching up. So today I’m looking at one of George MacDonald’s most complex but also compelling poems, “A Broken Prayer”, a poem written in a hybrid of free andContinue reading “Fragments of a Prayer (After George MacDonald’s “A Broken Prayer”)”
The Fledgling (After George MacDonald’s “Diary of an Old Soul”)
One of the most powerful and touching works that George MacDonald wrote, although also one of his least known, is his sequence of poems entitled, a little awkwardly, “A Book of Strife in the Form of the Diary of an Old Soul”. The book includes a poem for each day of the year, each oneContinue reading “The Fledgling (After George MacDonald’s “Diary of an Old Soul”)”
Expectancy (After Christina Rossetti’s “The Thread of Life”)
Another one of my favourite Christina Rossetti poems is one of her least known – a cycle of three sonnets entitled, “The Thread of Life”. You can read the original here. In response to her poem, I have attempted my own set of three sonnets, working with some of Rossetti’s original theme. You might alsoContinue reading “Expectancy (After Christina Rossetti’s “The Thread of Life”)”
The Road (After Christina Rossetti’s “Uphill”)
One of my favourite poems by Christina Rossetti is the lovely and comfortingly simple “Uphill”. The poem is written as a dialogue between two people and has always expressed to me both the hardship of the Christian walk and the certainty of the hope before us. I have tried to reflect these things in writingContinue reading “The Road (After Christina Rossetti’s “Uphill”)”
Resurrection
Of course it breaks our categories and makes our minds explode; the truth does not sit neat in packages and kernels break in soil. If it fractures logic, let it; it drives the doubting to their knees while those who saw the proof’s flesh doubted and those who saw the tomb ran home. Continue reading “Resurrection”
The Consolations of Writing 