As a teacher, he is a Literature and English Teacher at Heathdale Christian College, and is the Cross Curriculum Co-ordinator (First Nations) there.
Andrew Lansdown has said about Pullar’s new collection:
------“While reading Matthew Pullar’s poetry, one is struck by its
------simplicity and directness, prized qualities in any form of
------communication. His poems are mostly confessional and devotional
------in nature and are without pretension or pride. It is refreshing,
------in an age when the political and the perverse seem to predominate
------in the arts, to read poems exploring the fundamentals of human
------existence — family, faith, failure, and grace.”
The most recent post at Poems For Ephesians is also a poem by Matthew Pullar.
The following poem first appeared in Ekstasis, and is from This Teeming Mess of Glory.
Breathbodyprayer
…that form of prayer in which the soul makes use of the members
of the body to raise itself more devoutly to God. In this way the
soul, in moving the body, is moved by it.
------— The Nine Ways of Prayer of Saint Dominic
Fooled by the body’s misfirings —
the thought misdirected; the brain
connecting anguish to the neutral moment —
you cannot pray, for every
earnest ascent is duped by the pounding
head that cries out, Terror, terror
on every side. And you,
longing for peace where there
is no peace, cannot spy the waiting,
pumping heart that welcomes,
that is already here, is open.
So prayer, at these times, is as much
a breath as a hand outstretched,
an air-parched mouth gulping as it clutches clouds.
And while the body,
in its movement, stretches
its wild, warring muscles,
it wrestles and settles
encased behind the billowing
ribs of its maker,
who did not despise these scars.
Posted with permission of the poet.
Entry written by D.S. Martin. He is the author of five poetry collections including Angelicus (2021, Poiema/Cascade), and three anthologies — available through Wipf & Stock. His new book The Role of the Moon, inspired by the Metaphysical Poets, is forthcoming from Paraclete Press.
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