Let There Be Light: Poems - Softcover

Appleman, Philip

Softcover

ISBN 10: 006096832X ISBN 13: 9780060968328

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1991

Synopsis

Poems offer a satirical look at Job, Jonah, Noah, and the Apostles, and examine the spiritual qualities of humans and nature

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

In his newest collection of poems, Appleman ( Open Doorways ) deals directly and uncompromisingly with the inexplicability of God's treatment of man , recasting stories from the Old and New Testaments to show God in a more human light. In "Sarah," God and Abraham are literally "nose to nose," arguing over the fate of Sodom. Abraham asks, "How about / all the good folks over there? . . . are you going to blast them right along / with the perverts?" In the humorous but tragic "Noah," one of the ark-builder's sons angrily questions God's purpose in murdering most of the creatures on earth with His "killer flood": "Listen / Dad, I thought you said He / was omniscient--well, then, / wouldn't He have foreseen all this?" Using language that is smooth and fluid, Appleman skillfully explores the comic potential of these myths, but never to the point of caricature. Other poems stress the simple pleasures of love and the quiet beauty of life amid the pain caused by God's unrelenting cruelty. Unfortunately, for all of his probing religious revisionism, the poet ultimately offers only this feeble conclusion: "God /is . . . a trick with mirrors, our / dark reflection in a glass."
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

And Then The Perfect Truth Of Hatred
Anniversary
Anoher Word For Jim
Before You Push The Red Button
Bildad
But The Daisies Will Not Be Deceived By The Gods
Coast To Coast
Credo
David
Desire (1)
Desire (2)
Desire (3)
Desire (4)
Eve
An Eye For An Eye
Fleas
Gathering At The River
Gertrude
Gifts
Heading North
Heavenly Body
Jesus
Jonah
Judas
Last-minute Message For A Time Capsule
Life On The Mississippi Queen
Lighting Your Birthday Cake
Martha
Mary
New Year's Day
Night Thoughts
Noah
Our Tree
Sarah
Sensual Music
Thin Ice
The Trickle-down Theory Of Happiness
Watching Her Sleep
Here It Is
-- Table of Poems from Poem FinderŪ

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 006096832X
• ISBN 13: 9780060968328
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 82