Reaching Forever: Poems (Poiema Poetry Series) - Inspirational Poetry for Meditation, Gifts & Home Decor
Delivery & Return:Free shipping on all orders over $50
Estimated Delivery:7-15 days international
People:10 people viewing this product right now!
Easy Returns:Enjoy hassle-free returns within 30 days!
Payment:Secure checkout
SKU:61011496
Product Description
Reaching Forever is Philip C. Kolin’s ninth collection of poems, the sixth to focus entirely on spiritual poetry. Like the poet’s most recent book, Benedict's Daughter: Poems (2017), the poems in this new collection are anchored in Scripture. Organized according to major Christian topics—sheep, water, God's names, eschatology—Reaching Forever is ripe with scriptural parables, symbols and imagery, settings, allusions, and speakers ranging from God to biblical characters to contemporary figures. Consistent with the Poiema Series, these poems open the “windows” of faith. But they are not simple catechesis. Rather, they “leap over the sills,” to quote D. S. Martin, providing new ways of looking at Holy Writ and applying them to today's world—to see the sacred in the daily. Undeniably the most distinctive feature of Reaching Forever is the large number of poems set in the contemporary world, but contextualized through the Bible. For instance, a poem on the polyandrous Samaritan woman is paired with one about a homeless woman in a large city who also has had many husbands and children. A long litany poem about God's appearances in Scripture is followed by one on catadores (garbage pickers) who hear rumbling below the filth and wonder what God’s voice is saying. A short poem on the riches of Cana seques to a spiritual lyric about monks who transform donors’ pennies into bread for the poor.
Customer Reviews
I chose to embark on a trip though Philip Kolin's ninth collection, Reaching Forever. When I want to take a brisk literary walk, I choose prose. When I want to perambulate and ponder on life's questions, I choose poetry. If this collection of poems are like stepping stones a reader can order and reorder one by one to configure the path as one goes farther and farther on a journey into it, I start with "Searching for God" '.....he is God/even if we did not exist/to believe in Him'. The last stepping stone on my path would be "When God Arrives" '.....you realize you do not/have to wear/your body anymore'. The journey through this collection has been a pleomorphosis from the cosmic explosion of the pre-born, to adolescence, to adulthood, and through old age. Embracing the themes contained in this volume, when we "reach forever" shall we not be a transcendent form of truth, beauty and goodness? Form TBE--To Be Embraced.I could not but think of Flannery O'Connor in this volume. Southern Gothic strands are woven throughout the poetry in vignettes of persons in isolation and marginalization, in destitution and decay. Yes, even a sense of oppression and discrimination. The Biblical use of water, whose natural marvelous properties, unifies and sustains all of human and environmental life forms, seems to be used here as Hope. Immersed in a Hope landscape, the stage is set for the reality of life without being grotesque. No one gives up. Mostly, persons suffer alone. Some, as the professed religious, with meager donations strive to provide for others the bread of life and keys to salvation. The homeless endure as victimless.Gather a collection of forks: a tiny seafood fork, a luncheon fork, a dinner fork a dessert fork, a tuning fork, and a hay fork. Pick at these poetic treasures word by word, image by image, innuendo by innuendo, Bible reference by Bible reference, dictionary definition by dictionary definition and Word by Word.Savor this collection. Share this collection. Shine light on this Reaching Forever.
