Harvey’s debut poetry collection Let’s Call It Home has just appeared as part of the Poiema Poetry Series from Cascade Books. I am honoured to have worked with Luke in editing this fine book for publication.
The English poet Malcolm Guite has written of this new collection, “Time and again these poems do what poetry does best: they transfigure the familiar and so reveal something of its meaning: …from the mystery of the earthworm rising towards the rain, to the family who find that feeding a child pureed peas is an entirely sacramental act, in poem after poem Luke Harvey gives us a glimpse of what George Herbert called ‘Heaven in Ordinary’.”
The following poem is from Let’s Call It Home.
After the Murder
The crux of the matter is what to do.
with the body now crumbled
in your hands. Logic says dismember
it, scrubbing beneath your fingernails
to rinse away any condemning
evidence of having been at the scene
of the slaughter, then bury the axe.
Or maybe you play it cool, act
like it’s nothing new to hold a carcass
in your cupped palms, like really this
is something you do on a weekly basis,
nonchalant as a Sunday stroll. Of course,
you wouldn’t be here in the first place
if you were one to listen to logic,
so disregard that. You’re holding the flesh
and blood of another. This is no time for logic.
Pray for forgiveness and devour it,
wiping first one cheek, then the other.
Posted with permission of the poet.
Entry written by D.S. Martin. He is the author of five poetry collections including Angelicus (2021, Cascade) ― a book of poems written from the point-of-view of angels. His books are available through Wipf & Stock.