Spent most of the week trying to put Seal up the Thunder together as a book, deciding which poems in what order. A process sort of like assembling Ikea furniture: odd and frustrating and driven by strange pictograms swept with little arrows.
I have made one decision: a lower-case "u" in "up."
And I've made the strange discovery that I've written a book about the Bible and almost entirely missed Jesus. Whoops.
But mostly I have questions. Will the book be long enough? There aren't as many poems as I thought there were, but several of them are long. I will try not to worry about this. The book will be as long as it needs to be. Should I try to get Jesus on the rebound? Can I make my deadlines? And most of all, how do these poems fit together? Does "Book of Hours" go anywhere? Does "Book of Wisdom"? Does "Night Litany"? Is the Job cycle a story poem like "After the Flood," or a wisdom poem like "Book of Wisdom"? And et cetera. A couple of sketched
out tables of contents, below.
_____________________
Bookended Book Design
Revelation (frontispiece poem)
Old Testament
Suffrage to Water
(Unwritten Eve Poem)
Cain Reflects on Cutting Abel's Throat
After the Flood
Sacrifice of Isaac
Leah Names her Sons
(Unfinished Moses Poem)
(Unfinished David Poem)
Delilah, on Contradictions
Ezekial and the Bones
(10 poems about 12 pages)
Psalms
Yours is the Day
in the tilling of the land the Lord is
let my prayer be set forth in your sight as incense
after a loss, I have walked long in silence
scraps and velvet
but I have stilled and quieted
like a stranger I have stood by the world amazed
let us worship the lord in the beauty of holiness
so the heart in her indigo
oh, the gates
(ten poems (probably about 12 pages))
Wisdom Writings
Proverbs 30
Job Cycle 1
Job Cycle 2
Job Cycle 3
De Profundis
Night Litany (doesn't fit very well)
Book of Wisdom 1
Book of Wisdom 2
Book of Wisdom 3
Book of Wisdom 4
(about 10 sections of poems, including night litany)
New Testament
Bone Pastor
Zechariah
Elizabeth
John
The Sparrow Child
(Unwritten Peter Poem)
Resurrection
The Conversion of Paul
Acta Thomae
(9 poems, 8 written)
While the earth remains (backpiece poem)
comment: good division of sections. the new testament is a bit anemic -- what happened to Jesus!?! is this too choppy? how would the weird chant poems (suffrage, etc) be indicated in the book?
******
Chunked Book Design
Suffrage to Water
Yours is the Day
Night Litany
Bone Pastor
Resurrection
Revelation
While the Earth Remains
(7 poems)
in the tilling of the land the Lord is
let my prayer be set forth in your sight as incense
de profundis
after a loss, I have walked long in silence
scraps and velvet
but I have stilled and quieted
like a stranger I have stood by the world amazed
let us worship the lord in the beauty of holiness
so the heart in her indigo
oh, the gates
(11 poems)
(Unwritten Eve Poem)
Cain Reflects on Cutting Abel's Throat
After the Flood
Sacrifice of Isaac
Leah Names her Sons
(Unfinished Moses Poem)
(Unfinished David Poem)
Delilah, on Contradictions
Ezekial and the Bones
Zechariah
Elizabeth
John
The Sparrow Child
(Unwritten Peter Poem)
The Conversion of Paul
Acta Thomae
(16 poems)
Comment: great first section. the sections are of uneven length. the wisdom writings don't seem to go in at all! can "Acta Thomae" really do the trick as an end poem? (the last phrase of the book would be "but here is a place to start." that's cool but I miss "while the earth" at the end.
******
Chunked Book Design with two testaments
and the wisdom writings in the middle
Suffrage to Water
Yours is the Day
Night Litany
Bone Pastor
Resurrection
Revelation
While the Earth Remains
(7 poems)
in the tilling of the land the Lord is
let my prayer be set forth in your sight as incense
de profundis
after a loss, I have walked long in silence
scraps and velvet
but I have stilled and quieted
like a stranger I have stood by the world amazed
let us worship the lord in the beauty of holiness
so the heart in her indigo
oh, the gates
(11 poems)
(Unwritten Eve Poem)
Cain Reflects on Cutting Abel's Throat
After the Flood
Sacrifice of Isaac
Leah Names her Sons
(Unfinished Moses Poem)
(Unfinished David Poem)
Delilah, on Contradictions
Ezekial and the Bones
Proverbs 30
Job Cycle 1
Job Cycle 2
Job Cycle 3
De Profundis
Night Litany
Book of Wisdom 1
Book of Wisdom 2
Book of Wisdom 3
Book of Wisdom 4
Zechariah
Elizabeth
John
The Sparrow Child
(Unwritten Peter Poem)
The Conversion of Paul
Acta Thomae
comment: wisdom writings have a home, but again that makes it choppy and emphasizes how short the new testament stuff is. I really have to finish my peter poems.
Wow, you've thought about this!
Just curious: how've you found showing your work to other people?
Do you mean the manuscript? I haven't, yet. I hope to soon -- maybe Monday. I have a few volunteers lined up.
Sunday morning, at my office, the last place I want to be, to tie up a week's worth of paperwork. I, the greatest of procrastinators, am wasting time surfing the web...I can not remember how I stumbled onto this site, but I think I was brought here. Your poems put music and awe in my heart. I will check here often as I must get your thunder book when it becomes available. Your poems are so amazingly gentle and warm and even better...I think you must have had a glimpse or two of God to be able to write as you do! Thank you, Erin...you've turned my procrastination into a joyful song.
Fascinating. I think I prefer the bookended design. I can't wait to read this book.
Maybe the absence of Jesus in your New Testament poems is significant? I find it kind of expressive that He's missing?