Love and other Mysteries

by Megan Willome

Love and other Mysteries are poems of longing and of seeking from the perspective of a woman in midlife. They are poems of Thank you and I wish, poems that embrace life’s mysterious turns to the click of rosary beads, round and round the four Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious. Perhaps stories must include loss—of parents, partners, health, dreams—before people are open to Love that loves them first, and in response, they blush. Love sung in the Canticle of Canticles, Song of Solomon. Perhaps there is nothing more theological than eros.

78 pages, Paperback

Published November 12, 2024

About the author

Author of "Love and other Mysteries," a poetry collection inspired by Song of Solomon and the mysteries of the rosary. Her day is incomplete without poetry, tea, a song, and a walk in the dark.

Read more every week at Poetry for life on Substack: "Why poetry? You might as well ask, Why chocolate?"

Reviews

[Sandra Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished working my way through the depths of Megan Willome’s Love and Other Mysteries. I could write pages and pages about these poems, each and every poem, because this poet made us dig and dig through the mysteries of faith, of the scriptures, sometimes poetry other than her own, and the verse spilling life’s journeys amidst our natural world. She did all of this in one poetry collection! I will share the gems that are my favorites.

For those of us not Catholic, here we are instructed in the Mysteries such as The Descent of the Holy Spirit. In Willome’s poem “Three Kisses at Pentecost,” she couples the poem with Song 4, and I love how the poet works through the Songs of Solomon in this collection. Between the sensual Songs 4 and Pentecost, this poem takes us on “peony wind” through all the garden blooms into the erotic lure of a garden. For me, this poem also connects to a later poem, “Hill Country Spring,” that is filled with the “vibrato” of a blooming spring and The Descent of the Holy Spirit as promised to the apostles with a sweet rhyme at the end of Willome’s poem.

Catholic sacraments and mysteries are abundant through Willome’s poems, but so is Texas. I love “Cibolo Creek,” a place I find full of serenity in the midst of a busy town, yet the poem reflects the somber march to Jesus’ crucifixion, with repeated “bad luck.”

“Speechless” reflects some words from my own desert poems. This poem is full of reverence in the holy where she “kneels, howls.” Such a vivid image of the scripture where “everlasting joy” will crown their heads. And her poem “After a Death, Cleaning the Bathroom,” after the Crucifixion—a chore so ordinary, perhaps drudgery, yet the metaphor of honoring the loss. Amen.

This poetry collection should be a class, a catechism where Ms. Willome has captured the depths and complexities of scripture, the Mysteries, and life itself. A collection that is not an easy read, but an illuminating one.

[Dave Malone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely book. In her preface, Megan Willome quickly maps out the territory: “Perhaps there is nothing more theological than eros.” I so agree. I won’t pretend to understand all that she’s up to in this book, but I certainly appreciate what is happening and what I’m feeling—and that is: wonder and awe about the four mysteries of joyful, luminous, sorrowful, glorious. At Willome’s hand, these present in unique ways via the everyday, Jesus and Marys (plural Marys) narratives, the seeking of the divine, and references to inspirations from Solomon’s books. The down-to-earth and blue jeans in “Winterpast” made it a fast favorite. The two words, “Because / wildflowers,” in “Enchanted Rock State Natural Area” says so much in its simplicity. The rhyming verse poems, such as “Cibolo Creek” and “After a Death,” are much appreciated in a predominantly poetic literary world of free verse. For me, there’s also a comfort in this book—having read Willome’s poems for some years—a real pleasure in her Texas voice, and her love and understanding for its landscape and people, and especially her spouse.