Canticles of the Body: A Meditation on the Liturgical Cycle

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Chris Ellery has dared to create a substantial manuscript encompassing the biggest of subjects, in his words, ‘all totems of the numinous.’ In Canticles of the Body, Ellery wrestles with the many demons and angels that define our earthly existence. Though the overlay is broadly Christian, he draws on his knowledge of mystical traditions the world over and his subjects range from martyrdom to child’s play, from dressing fish to wildcat fires. As he has St. James, the Lord’s Brother, observe, First the fact and then the meaning of the fact, we derive from Ellery’s lucid poetry his will to get beyond the superficial and go to the heart of the Spirit, difficult though such an act may be. –Jan Seale, 2012 Texas Poet Laureate, author of Ordinary Charms Progressing through the Christian liturgical cycle from duality to union, Chris Ellery’s beautiful and moving Canticles of the Body constitutes an extended meditation on incarnation even as it searches out meaning in the archetypes of many spiritual traditions. Often challenging and sometimes troubling, the poems in this unique collection should provoke readers to return to Scripture and hagiography to see what they missed. –Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, Center for Action and Contemplation, author of Eager to Love