There is a Future: A Year of Daily Midrash

by Amy Bornman

Learning about the ancient Jewish tradition of midrash, a rabbinic form of textual interpretation that seeks and imagines answers to unanswerable questions, felt to Amy Bornman like a poetic invitation to re-engage with the Bible in a new way. There is a A Year of Daily Midrash – an award-winner in the Paraclete Poetry Prize competition – grew from a yearlong project to read the Bible daily, and write daily midrashic poems in response to the readings—to honor the text by wondering about, and struggling with, it. By engaging particular passages of scripture across the Old and New Testaments directly, these poems imagine new dimensions of the text, and make vivid connections to the world as it is now and to the author’s own life—emerging at year’s end with new hope in a future that at times feels impossible, as the days pile on days and the text’s enduring questions continue to ring.

Genres: Poetry, Religion

112 pages, Paperback

Published December 15, 2020

Reviews

[Tobin Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of those books that feels like it was written just for me with how much I love it and how particular it often feels to my experiences, but also I have shared so many poems out of here with all kind of other people who have loved it. Favorite collection of poetry to date!

[Monica Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every poem is treasure.
Especially this one.

the door
matthew 7

i’m learning not to assume disaster,
i’m learning to hold out my hands,
asking for bread, and not expect
a stone. i’m learning to ask and
wait open for an answer instead
of dooming myself to silence,
thinking i’m always alone.
my greatest darkness is the fear i harbor,
my insistence that somehow the world
is not good. my greatest fear is that
the door will never open though i
knock and fling myself against it,
or wait across the hall
afraid to even go near.
i worry that the door is not a
door at all, that i’d swing it open
in a moment of boldness and
find a cement wall. ask, and it
will be given to you. seek, and you
will find. knock on the door with
the softest fist, put your ear to the
wood and listen for movement,
the soft swish of a garment, a
cup being lifted to lips, someone
cooking onions, a dinner being
prepared. something or anything
happening in the great mystery room.
if the door opened now you’d be flattened
by light. today, keep your hand on
the knob. imagine the threshold.
think about the moment when the door would
swing open, hinges creak.
how will it feel to see the knob so slowly turn?
you’ll walk through and know, finally,
what it’s like in that room.

[Lily Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the first books of poetry that I’ve sat down and just read. Reading the scripture passage that coincides with each poem was a deeply enriching devotional exercise. I loved getting to know Amy’s voice and style as I read. “I must decrease” was my favorite; I will continue to read the least several lines as a prayer again and again. beautiful.

[Meghan Pesko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book of poems so much. There were so many that I put a star by, to come back to again and again. Such a beautiful way to add to my prayer.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is wonderfully raw and inspiring. I’m inspired to begin practicing Midrash during daily devotions.