Jesus is God, and we as necessarily devotional Christian poets must not shy away from that fact. These poems try to celebrate that reality, who He is, without sacrificing literary quality. They are distinctly American (baseball, jazz, and free verse) in form, Beat in the line of Mary Fabilli, Thomas Merton, and Daniel ""stick it to the man"" Berrigan. And they try to accomplish this without sacrificing humor and romp. May these, and all Christian poems, both now and in the future, wave that flag of freedom--no matter what our personal struggles. Our lives, our poems are about Jesus finally, the One who is mercy itself. May He look kindly upon us, and give us His peace. ""There is, writes the poet, 'a pretty loud party going on in the other world.' And with those words David Craig takes us on a journey of spiritual longing where 'each little moment' on earth, though suffused with astonishment and love, is only a 'pauper's map to heaven.' Throughout this book, the reader encounters the quotidian juxtaposed with the extraordinary--each and all a wonder. While Craig tells us, we might be 'more lost/than would seem possible, ' he also exquisitely reminds us that 'It takes nothing/to truly celebrate.'"" --Lois Roma-Deeley, author of The Short List of Certainties ""David Craig's poems read like something written by a hip Franciscan, filled with a surprising sense of self-effacement and humility, mixed with a continual note of celebration for the things of this world: sunsets, sunrises, the chirp of birds, his beautiful family, the happy howl of his two dogs. Somehow he makes you feel, as he says, as if Jesus were, in fact, 'to walk down the middle of our street / happy to sit with us on our back porch, ' to 'talk about whatever we need to belong to / at the moment.'"" --Paul Mariani, author of Epitaphs for the Journey ""David Craig is one of the best poets working today. His poetic vision might be best described as 'mystical realism, ' and to serve that vision, Craig has evolved a demotic yet lyric style that resembles Emily Dickinson's in its nerve-end economy, William Carlos Williams's in its plain-spoken diction and disarmingly unpretentious tropes, and CK Williams's in its candor of address."" --David Impastato, editor of Upholding Mystery ""The speaker of this collection is someone the reader wants to visit with and learn from. The subtle fusion of tenor and vehicle in his metaphors is a good technique for a fine Catholic poet whose readers need not be Catholic, but only seekers after the metaphysical, trying to find a refreshed vision. On one level these are simply poems about innocence and grace, and how these factors serve as a compass for living a good life in a society where they are underrated and ignored. This collection is satisfying to mind, heart, and spirit. The reader will return to it for refreshment and inspiration."" --Janet McCann, author of Buddha in the Barbed-Wire Garden ""I believe David Craig to be the foremost religious poet of the day whose special gift it is to reveal the presence and care of God in all things--especially the most unlikely things. He gives us poems as rich in humanity as they are of the mystery of God, which is the same. He is doing the work he was called for, and we are blessed by the presence his words generate."" --Howard McCord, author of Collected Poems ""This collection is clear-minded, heartfelt, and so reverent it seems irreverent. 'That is why I beat this drum, walking up and down the property line.' Honest and giddy, grateful and 'I don't know, happy, ' all the reader can do is rejoice over the fact that there is this kind of voice; that is if he or she doesn't mind sharing the trolley with Barbie and Ken, a horde of disagreeable tortoises."" --Periwinkle Bleu, Bon Vivant, Wife About Town David Craig, who had the foresight to marry Linda (nee Unger) Craig when she was a virtual unknown, is a Professor of English at the Franciscan University of Steubenville where he has tau
Industry Reviews
“There is, writes the poet, ‘a pretty loud party going on in the other world.’ And with those words David Craig takes us on a journey of spiritual longing where ‘each little moment’ on earth, though suffused with astonishment and love, is only a ‘pauper’s map to heaven.’ Throughout this book, the reader encounters the quotidian juxtaposed with the extraordinary—each and all a wonder. While Craig tells us, we might be ‘more lost/than would seem possible,’ he also exquisitely reminds us that ‘It takes nothing/to truly celebrate.’”
—Lois Roma-Deeley, author of The Short List of Certainties
“David Craig’s poems read like something written by a hip Franciscan, filled with a surprising sense of self-effacement and humility, mixed with a continual note of celebration for the things of this world: sunsets, sunrises, the chirp of birds, his beautiful family, the happy howl of his two dogs. Somehow he makes you feel, as he says, as if Jesus were, in fact, ‘to walk down the middle of our street / happy to sit with us on our back porch,’ to ‘talk about whatever we need to belong to / at the moment.’”
—Paul Mariani, author of Epitaphs for the Journey
“David Craig is one of the best poets working today. His poetic vision might be best described as ‘mystical realism,’ and to serve that vision, Craig has evolved a demotic yet lyric style that resembles Emily Dickinson’s in its nerve-end economy, William Carlos Williams’s in its plain-spoken diction and disarmingly unpretentious tropes, and CK Williams’s in its candor of address.”
—David Impastato, editor of Upholding Mystery
“The speaker of this collection is someone the reader wants to visit with and learn from. The subtle fusion of tenor and vehicle in his metaphors is a good technique for a fine Catholic poet whose readers need not be Catholic, but only seekers after the metaphysical, trying to find a refreshed vision. On one level these are simply poems about innocence and grace, and how these factors serve as a compass for living a good life in a society where they are underrated and ignored. This collection is satisfying to mind, heart, and spirit. The reader will return to it for refreshment and inspiration.”
—Janet McCann, author of Buddha in the Barbed-Wire Garden
“I believe David Craig to be the foremost religious poet of the day whose special gift it is to reveal the presence and care of God in all things—especially the most unlikely things. He gives us poems as rich in humanity as they are of the mystery of God, which is the same. He is doing the work he was called for, and we are blessed by the presence his words generate.”
—Howard McCord, author of Collected Poems
“This collection is clear-minded, heartfelt, and so reverent it seems irreverent. ‘That is why I beat this drum, walking up and down the property line.’ Honest and giddy, grateful and ‘I don’t know, happy,’ all the reader can do is rejoice over the fact that there is this kind of voice; that is if he or she doesn't mind sharing the trolley with Barbie and Ken, a horde of disagreeable tortoises.”
—Periwinkle Bleu, Bon Vivant, Wife About Town
