ecargo28 Mar 2006

The two aren't mutually exclusive Mandy. I'm not saying write "something else." Whatever your faith, I assume you live with it when you're walking down the street, buying fish, cooking dinner, yelling at your kids, weeding the garden, pulling up your stockings--it's not something separate from that, is it? I doubt you get through your days and then think "well, okay, now it's Time for God! Yay!"

Since you mentioned non-Christian reactions, I’ll give you mine. Poems like this, to me, read like the same old tired proselytizing. There’s no hook to draw me in. I think there are some fantastic religious poems: Anne Sexton’s “Welcome Morning” comes to mind (mainly because she weaves in the homey details that make it accessible and, even for a nonbeliever, relevant). I also think there’s a lot of awful religious poetry. And what makes most of it awful is that it comes off as smug and preachy. Whatever they may think, Christians have no more automatic peace of mind or insight than anyone else. What they may have is a different perspective. If you don’t make that perspective interesting and accessible, though, then you’ll only attract readers who already believe what you believe. Poetry is in the details.

Good luck with your book.