Poets and Poems: Peter Murphy and "You Too Were Once on Fire"

You Too Were Once on Fire: Poems, the new collection by Peter Murphy, begins almost biblically with the introductory poem “The Diaspora of Light.” It echoes the “Let there be light” from the book of Genesis, although the poem begins by citing Plato. It then moves to the stars, followed a leap to “The God Nobody Wanted,” with the convicting line of “What will it say on your tombstone / other than consumer?”. 

These first few poems of the collection show how important the introductory poems are. You read and digest them, and you come to expect (or read into) questions of faith and contemporary society no matter what the poem’s subject is.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Some Tuesday Readings

 

The Wildflower – poem by David Whyte.

 

Facing Backward – Padraig O Tuama at Poetry Unbound on “Bill’s Story” by Mark Doty.

 

Attack the day – poem by Franco Amati at Garbage Notes.

 

Westward – poem by Sandra Marchetti at Every Day Poems.

 

“An Essay on Criticism,” poem by Alexander Pope – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Thetis & Achilles – poem by Julia McMullen at Rabbit Room Poetry.