His new book, Chora has just appeared as part of the Poiema Poetry Series from Cascade Books. I am pleased to say I worked with Brian to ready this book for publication. Paul Mariani has said about this new book:
----"Brian Volck's Chora is a brilliant collection of poems, covering all
----seasons, often month by month, and so many splendid locations,
----from Baltimore and Cincinnati to the American West — especially
----among the Navajo nation — to Europe and Greece. He's a deeply
----philosophical thinker, versed in the Hebrew scriptures and
----especially in the Gospels, offering one new insight after another.
----Then too there is the way he keeps returning, with the help of his
----wife and muse, to the beauty right there before him, as women so
----often see it first. Yes, and there is of course, being the physician,
----pediatrician, and teacher that he is, the reality of human suffering
----and the deep loss of our loved ones. Page after page offers us
----another insight, a new sense of reality that only the poem can
----offer: the elegiac, yes, but then too the bounty of blessings we
----have been given."
The following poem is from Chora (Poiema/Cascade, 2026)
Treasures of TANAKH Hebrew: Hineni
I am not ready, my mind a beehive
of regret for blunders past redemption
and fear for my—and my children’s—future.
I am not ready, my heart beleaguered
by contrary loves, frayed fidelities,
what is dearest to me most neglected.
I am not ready, my body weary,
muscles slackened from wonted indolence,
flesh scarred by the cudgels of compulsion.
Do not compel me yet to the mountain
of trial nor demand more sacrifice
from the plundered household of my hope.
Late have I turned, invoking your name,
trusting you to shepherd my wayward mind
and drive the darkening clouds from my heart.
Open, then, my mouth that I might utter
in your presence the words I long to say:
Here I am, Adonai. I am ready.
Posted with permission of the poet.
This is the second Kingdom Poets post about Brian Volck: first post.
Entry written by D.S. Martin. He is the author of six poetry collections including Angelicus (2021, Poiema/Cascade), plus three anthologies — available through Wipf & Stock. His new book The Role of the Moon, inspired by the Metaphysical Poets, is now available from Paraclete Press.