Night, Mystery & Light

Night, Mystery & Light
J.K. McDowell
144 pages, 5.25 x 8 paper­back
$12.95

Read an Excerpt

“McDowell often ends his poems with a chal­lenge to “Jim,” a ques­tion usu­ally asking him to make sense of his life. . . . we over­hear this final ques­tion as if it were directed at us. One of the joys of reading McDowell’s poetry is pre­cisely this that his ques­tions urge us to make deeper sense of our own lives. You will dis­cover, along with him, the almost seam­less way the ordi­nary and non-​​ordinary real­i­ties of our soul’s deep dreaming sup­port and create a multi-​​layered world to live in. It is a world that intrigues us while reading the poem and that lingers long after we lay the poem aside.” —Tom Cowan, from the fore­word of Night, Mystery & Light

…the sinking.

So tell me, did you pray that this day would come?
The Beloved will bring you far­ther and fur­ther
Than this. Make ready my Friend for the next embrace!

Early sun­light sweeps the kitchen quiet. Beyond
The window bees buzz on some flow­ering bush.
Footsteps come with fresh picked blue­ber­ries for break­fast.

A Gift? Here, I give you these tears from my eyes.
Sweet as dreams of Peace, quickly taste them, they dry so fast.
Elsewhere the coast­line dis­ap­pears without a word.

The palms touch lightly, the head bows slightly, the
Eyes close tightly. Hope does not deny that vic­tory
And defeats are assured – Sacred battle awaits.

Careful, many of the things in your field of vision
Look back and some­times into you. The eyes turned
Inward or out­ward can be door­ways to the Soul.

You never told me Jim, how you chose the river rocks.
In silence Virginia filled her pockets.
Smooth, heavy, reas­sured for the sinking.