Poiema: Poems by D.S. Martin

By D. S. Martin

"Each of these poems makes you want to descend to its heart and discover the precious metal there. D. S. Martin knows how to evoke the mystery that lies beneath the relationships we have with ourselves, each other, and God. This is skillful and probing poetry."
- Luci Shaw; author of What the Light Was Like

Praise for So the Moon Would Not Be Swallowed
(Award of Merit-2008-The Word Guild)

"This little chapbook took me by surprise, with poem after poem shocking with rattling expectations for the reader in a way at least somewhat mimetic of the harrowing circumstances described. The final three lines of 'Good Housekeeping' will serve as an example of poems that are disturbing, strong, taut. By keeping the collection to one cycle of poems, the poet has left us wanting more--much more. The historic realities that are underlying add a dimension of gravitas, as does the fact that these stories continue through the decades since. This is strong writing with a distinctive voice."
-Maxine Hancock, author and professor at Regent College, Vancouver

"My only regret about this collection was that it wasn't longer."
-Violet Nesdoly, Utmost Christian Writers

"This is what poetry can do: take volumes of letters and locate the kernels, distil years of details with subtlety and a tolerance for ambiguity, stay faithful to the historical record and retell a compelling story."
-Hannah Main-van der Kamp, in Faith Today; author of According to Loon Bay

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Release date: Aug 18, 2008
• ISBN: 9781498274531

D. S. Martin

D.S. Martin is known internationally for his blog Kingdom Poets. His previous poetry collections include Poiema (2008), which was honored as a winner at the Word Awards, and a chapbook, So The Moon Would Not Be Swallowed. His poems have appeared in such publications as Anglican Theological Review, The Christian Century, Convivium, Ruminate, Sehnsucht, and Sojourners. He lives in the Toronto area, where he edits the other collections in the Poiema Poetry Series.

Book preview

Poiema

Poems by D. S. Martin

D. S. Martin

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POIEMA

Poems by D. S. Martin

Copyright © 2008 D. S. Martin. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

Wipf & Stock

A Division of Wipf and Stock Publishers

199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

Eugene, OR 97401

www.wipfandstock.com

isbn 13: 978-1-55635-856-2

eisbn 13: 978-1-4982-7453-1

Table of Contents

Title Page

Acknowledgments

Part One: Worlds Descend from Worlds

Cædmon

Behind My Eyes

These Things Never Change

Living in the Shadow

Censorship

The First Five Days—Amiens

Tribal Burial Customs

Ode to an Antique Sideboard

Adrift

The Pump at the End of the Lane

Mongrel Mind

Part Two: The Knife Still Falls

Offerings: Adam & Eve

Refusals: Cain & Abel

The Sacrifice of Isaac

Magnificat

No Warning in Bethlehem

The Judas Tree

Grand Piano

Thomson’s Horizon

Family & Rainstorm, 1955

The Parables of William Kurelek

The Horsemen

Part Three: From So the Moon Would Not Be Swallowed

A Honan Duststorm

Good Housekeeping

A Chinese Evangelist

Evacuation

Lunar Eclipse

She Writes of Her Garden

Part Four: When the House Is Filled with Space

Canticle

Sonnet

Balcony Haiku

Easter Ghazal

Villanelle

Let Beauty Come

Routines & Recurrences

Silence Raves

Part Five: Out of Reach

What Will Be

Hints of the Hidden

Seeing Is Believing?

The Lake

Even as All Creation Groans

Droplets

The Vandal of Vanity

Shadow of a Truth

Like Your Voice on a Long-Distance Call

Other

Sixteen Functions of the Moon

Feet-First

Creed in a Minor Key

Cycling

Auschwitz

The Heart of a Grocery Cart Is a Wayward Thing

Hands

As a Baker

Wind

The Weight of Glory

The Talbot River

Part Six: Meditations

Meditation #1

Meditation #2

Meditation #3

Meditation #4

Meditation #5

Meditation #6

Part Seven: Poiema

Poiema

In memory of

Margaret Avison

(1918–2007)

For we are his workmanship . . .

— Ephesians 2:10

To be human is to be completely alien amid the galaxies.

— Czeslaw Milosz

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Luci Shaw, John Terpstra, Richard Osler and Bruce Soderholm for their generous assistance in editing these poems for publication.

Many of the poems in this collection—although perhaps altered here—first appeared in the following publications: The Antigonish Review, Arc, Canadian Literature, The Christian Century, Christianity & Literature, Christian Week, The Cresset, Crux, The Dalhousie Review, The Fiddlehead, First Things, Grail, Mars Hill Review, The Nashwaak Review, Perspectives, Prairie Messenger, Propaganda, Quarry, Queen’s Quarterly, Radix, Rock & Sling, Stonework, Studio (Australia), 3.1.6, Wascana Review, Windhover, and Windsor Review; thank you to their editors. Routines & Recurrences first appeared in The Wisdom of Old Souls (Hidden Brook Press, 2008).

The poetry in section III is a sample from my chapbook, So The Moon Would Not Be Swallowed (Rubicon Press, 2007); thanks again to Jenna Butler for her faith in me. She Writes of Her Garden has since appeared at LiturgicalCredo.com and Lunar Eclipse was reprinted in The Fellowship Link.

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