Manna in the Morning

-Erika Dreifus, author of Birthright: Poems and Quiet Americans: Stories

In Manna in the Morning, poet Jacqueline Jules "stand[s] on a narrow bridge, /the width of a whisper, /connecting [yesterday to] today to tomorrow." Exploring choice and struggle in the lives of Abraham, Naomi, Noah, Jonah, Sarah, Eve, and other Biblical persons, the poet brings us back to ourselves. Jealousy and grief give way to prayer; humility and perseverance to hope. "Swirling in the fragile space/between faith and fear[, ]" she encourages us to "read beyond the transgression, /consider the whole saga." Only then do we find again the "lost . . . ability to speak to each other[, ]" the miracle of manna.

-Marjorie Maddox, author of Inside Out: Poems on Writing and Reading Poems with Insider Exercises

The first poem in Manna in the Morning lists the crimes of Jacob, Moses, and David: "The Bible elevates lives / marked by more than merit" writes Jacqueline Jules. She continues: "Yet unlike Twitter, the Bible / doesn't cancel characters. We are told / to read beyond the transgression, / consider the whole saga." Jules explores contemporary faith with nuance and sensitivity, braiding together the ancient world and twenty-first century. She's particularly interested in the roles women play in the Biblical texts and brings a lively feminist sensibility to her poems: "I'm Miriam / holding a tambourine, / dancing in the desert, grateful / for the smallest excuse / to sing."

-Katherine E. Young, author of Day of the Border Guards, Poet Laureate Emerita, Arlington, Virginia