Every Tongue Confess

These poems owe their origin to Robert Bly's stunning ghazals in Stealing Sugar from the Castle. (Why Minnesota has not erected a fifty-foot statue in honor of him is beyond me.) But since these lyrics are devotional in a Christian way, they are different. Though they enjoy Bly's wonderful sense of meter, they try to exalt Jesus Christ, the God-man, the Eucharist, in the very ground and summit of our being. They want to praise him in all things, as Christian poetry must do, for what he has done, for what he is doing. Surely the future will see a rise is such poetry. After all, that is why we are here. '""We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience, ' Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said. These poems illustrate this statement. They ask such questions as: How does a person of deep conviction carry on his daily life, with a wife, children, a job, and all the gifts and thefts of the world? How can he experience joy amidst all the obstacles and difficulties? This book is a spiritual adventure, a road trip Catholics and others will be happy they took. The poems leave a subtle aftertaste of blessing. Their sense of the spiritual richness of ordinary experience is contagious."" --Janet McCann, author of Pascal Goes to the Races ""These poems are brilliant, such a delight to read. . . . David Craig's Every Tongue Confess is a poetic exploration of the human condition that manages to be at once playful and profound, whimsical and wise, earthy and other-worldly. . . . Jesus appears in these poems as infinitely patient, willing to bow low to meet us poor, sinful pilgrims where we are. Read these poems--they will give your soul rare sustenance."" --Christine Schintgen, Associate Professor of Literature, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College ""The name Craig will be mentioned with the likes of Donne, Blake, Poe, Whitman, Dickinson, Frost, Lawrence, Eliot, Cummings, Hughes, & Merton. Couldn't stop reading. Had 2 send this text 2 give myself a break. Incredible . . . congratulations."" --Duane Drotar, Catholic Activist ""As in all Craig's poetry, everything in Every Tongue Confess is street-level, real, no bullshit, whether he is calling on Monet, Moses, Charlie Parker, or the poet's own family. He presents and questions the nature of God and being, not out of doubt but rather how a child discovers the world as always new and miraculous."" --Bill O'Connell, author of Sakonnet Point This is David Craig's twenty-sixth book, large and small. He has taught creative writing at the Franciscan University of Steubenville for more than thirty years (surely a testament to God's mercy). He would like to thank Jesus for all the folk he has met, for the chance he has had to try and serve.