Posted on

Greetings from quarantine! Need some poetry?

I hope everyone is well. My family and I are well too, just sheltering in place and adjusting to doing work and school from home.

Three people in the past week have asked for copies of my book. I have copies that I can deliver (at a safe distance) in Sewanee/ Monteagle or mail to you wherever you are. It’s also still available from the publisher and from certain mail-order bookstores, but you may find that it’s faster to order from me. $14.00 plus $1.50 postage. I take Venmo and PayPal. Just send me an email at jmichael@sewanee.edu.

Posted on

Advent

The Southern Poetry Review published this poem of mine last year:

 

Advent

 

“O Come, Emmanuel,” we sing,

and call him “long-expected.”

Yet clearly his earthly parents

were taken by surprise.

No reservations at the inn,

no childbirth classes;

they swaddled him in makeshift rags

among the cows and asses.

 

The unexpected child

prepares his own room;

does not wait to be invited

or even knock politely;

tears apart the calendar,

inscribing every page

with the importunate demands

of newborn rage.

 

In his profound dependence

he conquers all,

seizing the heart’s cords

in small, potent hands.

From life’s very source,

he comes to shatter expectation,

and for that catastrophe

there is no preparation.