"Christ's ever unhearable/and thus always too bearable/scream."

Five stars because: Wiman. So good. So fresh and unmistakable. His delight in neologisms and reckoning with death and faith will always leave me in raptures. I think I liked this less than "Every Riven Thing," perhaps because I do not... ...more

Wiman's new collection is absolutely fantastic. Between this set of poems, Every Riven Thing, and My Bright Abyss, his essay about modern spirituality, Wiman has quickly become one of my favorite writers and thinkers.

I've read somewhere that the greatest compliment an artist can give another is t... ...more

Wiman is n essayist and poet of the highest order. I can remember clearly his talk at Christ Episcopal in Charlottesville last year and can see so much of his new language of faith in this collection. A wonderful way to spend an hour, and then start again. ...more

I was a little bit disappointed, after having read Every Riven Thing, which I really enjoyed, this one is just not quite as striking. ...more

Beautiful and sad. One of my favorite writers. ...more

I really liked this collection of poems. I liked the later ones in the book best. His poems that grapple most clearly with faith are particularly helpful and challenging. This is the second collection of his I have read and I think this one is a stronger collection. Like most poetry I’ll have to... ...more

Read it aloud.

"When heaven fears its secrets will be told
it tells them to the least and the lost of us:"

or

"stabdazzling darkness,
icequiet:"

and

"Here, have a verse for your wife's death.
Here, have a death for your life's curse.

I tell you some Sundays even the children's sermon
--maybe especially thi... ...more

Suffering a Still Quiet Life of Joy

for Christian Wiman

1.
Painkillers
Insane pills

2.
Poetry of love's
Immensity

3.
Propensity for more
Intensity

4.
Purification through new
Intensification

5.
Pyre of funereal flames
I desire to feel no names

by Paul Hsu 7-31-15
...more