Cup My Days Like Water

by Abigail Carroll

It has been said that a psalm is a singing back to the Divine. Cup My Days Like Water is an offering of seventy-five poems—or psalms—rooted in the ancient biblical psalms. Borrowing from the raw honesty, radiant confidence, and unashamed lament of the biblical psalms, this sequence of devotional poems traces one person’s grappling with the themes of nature, illness, justice, beauty, suffering, the character of God, and the pilgrim life. Together, these poems probe the elegant and harsh realities of this world and explore what it means to forge a path of faith in light of those realities. Cup My Days Like Water tenders a new ancient way to pray that can help us navigate our disenchanted world with a tested hope.

Genres: Poetry

102 pages, Paperback

Published May 4, 2023

About the author

Abigail Carroll is author of A Gathering of Larks: Letters to Saint Francis from a Modern-Day Pilgrim (Eerdmans 2017). Her poetry has appeared in the anthology Between Midnight and Dawn: A Literary Guide to Prayer for Lent, Holy Week, and Eastertide (Paraclete Press 2016) as well as in a variety of magazines and literary journals, including the Anglican Theological Review, The Christian Century, Crab Orchard Review, Midwest Quarterly, Sojourners, and Terrain. Her first book, Three Squares: The Invention of the American Meal, was a finalist for the Zocalo Public Square Book Prize. Carroll serves as pastor of arts and spiritual formation at Church at the Well in Burlington, Vermont.

Reviews

[Michelle Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carroll’s poetry startles and soothes me at the same time. She reminds me here that God is always waiting to be found—under a rock, behind a wall, in the face of a tired woman in a faded t-shirt. This is a grace that delights and scares me. Carroll gives me the words I needed but did not know till now.

I love how each poem in this book is based on a verse of Psalm. I love how her words feel to my tongue.

I am starting over with the book now. I hope that when I am old, this book will be worn.

[Olivia Mccullum]

This book of poetry is the perfect companion for camping. Thank you, Abby Carroll!

[Karen Yoder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carroll's poetry, like none other, will have you shivering one minute and wandering the next. Her exqisite words turn fallow soil deep within.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this little book of poetry. Some of the poems resonated more than others. There are other poets in this vein I like better like RS Thomas.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, spiritual poems inspired by the Psalms. Most have a quiet, watchful quality. But there were like two angsty/funny ones!

[Sheila Witmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. I'm already excited about reading through this one again when I read through the Psalms.