A Matter of Waiting
Poems of My Days
- Arts & Literature
- Publisher: Resource Publications (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2020
FritzSearch.com earns a commission on purchases made through Bookshop.org links.
Publisher's Description
These poems look back over the poet's eighty years of life, including arguments with God about living with a serious birth defect. They also reflect on the possibilities presented by our own time, "the post-poetry age," in which events around us defy artistic interpretation. The theme of invincible hope runs throughout.
Endorsements (5)
“Masterful, reflective poetry from a remarkable life. Hefner draws on faith and science--and most of all on his own fractured being. A help to all of us as we deal with deep issues in our own lives. I will read, reflect on, and savor these poems over and over again.”
“Philip Hefner's poetry and theology embody a resilient grace and hope. His words carve the landscape of our bodyselves into beautiful and haunting thoughts and share with us his memories and dreams for the future. I have used his poetry in my theology and medicine class and recently a student said that Philip Hefner's poem, 'The Knitter,' was her all-time favorite poem. This is the best endorsement one could receive!”
“Phil Hefner is a psalmist for the twenty-first century, plumbing the self, seeking out the deep presence in the soul, and finding a balance to the betrayals of the body and the body politic in the discovery of grace. His power comes from a long life of having tuned an 'instrument all too mortal' to play 'the music beyond mortality.'”
“Informed by science, justice, and personal experience, A Matter of Waiting, by an acclaimed theologian, is brilliant poetry. After introductory poems of befitting gratitude to Gerard Manley Hopkins and homage to Wallace Stevens, Philip Hefner uses sprung rhythm and subtle rhyme to evoke the mysterious, the purposeful. By turns profound and profane, the book concludes ironically with the poem 'A Philosopher's Report.' Readers will want to keep this book close by for delight and persuasion.”
“This exquisite collection of poems witnesses to both a deep spirituality and also a profound appreciation for the human body and our embeddedness in the created world. The poems are intimate, beautiful, and accessible; you will find many that give voice to the cares of your own heart, and you will return to them again and again.”
See something wrong on this page? Report a problem