Friday, February 24, 2012

Old, But Valuable

Too much can be lost when books and music have a limited audience and then go out of print.  You might happen upon them in a thrift store or Ebay or even on Amazon, but there’s a reason they are no longer in print; they would be unprofitable.  Out of print and unprofitable don’t mean without value, however. 

I ordered this out of print book of poetry for a single poem and found others that touched me.  Here are two of them.

You! Jonah!: Thomas John Carlisle: Books
ASIN: B001CJQS5Y

by Thomas John Carlisle, published in 1968, a collection of poems about Jonah.

 

NEGOTIATION WITH A HIGHER POWER

I will demonstrate

my immediate

obedience

providing You comply

with my demand

for a more satisfying

assignment.

 


COMING AND GOING

The word came

And he went

In the other direction.

 

God said: Cry

tears of compassion

tears of repentance;

cry against

the reek of unrighteousness;

cry for

the right turn

the contrite spirit.

 

And Jonah rose

And fled

In tearless

silence.

2 comments:

  1. Absolute truth in your description. There are many valuable things "lost" because Mr. Money do not recognize their worth!

    I love Carlisle and I enjoy these poems, only there is a something that echo back from my inner mind: isn't the poet addressing the wrong "Power".

    I mean, all this asking seems coming from Man itself! a kind of Pharisaic model superimposed to the deity?

    Just a nagging, worthless thought, of course!

    You have a wonderful and absolutely useful blog.

    Thank you!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your comment. The poetry book by Thomas John Carlisle is a reflection of the biblical story from the Book Of Jonah in the Bible. Here is the Wikipedia entry for Carlisle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_John_Carlisle

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