Let Me Drown With Moses

by James Goldberg

The forty-nine poems in Let Me Drown With Moses are not for those who think of religion as another name for self-help.

They are for those who still believe in a God who wrestles. For those who think faith should challenge as much as it comforts. For those who would follow a prophet chest-deep into the Red Sea, even before the waters part.

Drawing on imagery from scripture and Mormon history, Let Me Drown With Moses gives voice to the spiritual longing of a people and does its own small part to keep religion a living language in the 21st century.

Genres: Poetry, Religion, Lds

89 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 2, 2015

About the author

James Goldberg’s family is Jewish on one side, Sikh on the other, and Mormon in the middle. His plays, essays, and short stories have appeared in numerous publications, including Shofar, Drash, The Best of Mormonism: 2009, Sunstone, Dialogue, Prick of the Spindle, and Jattan Da Pracheen Ithas.

Goldberg works at the LDS Church History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. His wife, Nicole, teaches writing and runs literary contests with him. Together, they are raising three fascinating children.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Goldberg is a fascinating man. I enjoyed his Five Books of Jesus a bit more, but this collection was just as powerful in a different way. It was harder to read because it's closer to home. His writing reveals beautiful spirituality and brutal realities.

A Couplet
What does the cloud-mist think of the river before it falls down as rain?
Before we came down from heaven, what did we think of pain?

You Sent Us
You sent us to a world
where the pieces don't fit together
where the fire bursts out when plates collide
where continents tear at the seams
You sent us to a world
where lives press up too tight against each other
where thorns strangle their neighbors to survive
where we carve out space for ourselves by force

You sent us to a world
where justice is never a given
where it's hard to tell dumb luck from grace
where your ways are an unattainable dream

You sent us to a world where
our backs grow bent, our bones brittle
and our spirits strong and deep

Ghazal (Tonight)
The sky fades to black from blue tonight
after bleeding a reddish hue tonight

God spoke the light but he whispered the dark
where I lie still and think of you tonight

The lane where we met has been bathed in the moon
so no tyrant can rule us by curfew tonight

The Guru has felt God's own hand on his lips
so there's no sikh no muslim no hindu tonight

One drop joins the river, one rises to rain
and one will distill as the dew tonight

Ek onkar, sat naam, kartaa purakh
drink a prayer like ambrosial brew tonight

{Notes: Sikh hymns compare human beings to drops of water - and God to the ocean they come from and will one day return to.}

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small and powerful book of poems. Each poem took me longer to consume, often re-reading and definitely reading all the notes attached to glean more meaning from them. They are beautifully told, but full of abstract Bible and mostly Mormon history stories, so would appeal to an LDS (or LDS adjacent) audience more than a general one, I think. My two favorite poems were “Song for Abel Paez” and “You Sent Us.”

[Katherine Cowley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great work from author James Goldberg, Let Me Drown with Moses is a collection of religious poetry. Specifically, it features LDS (Mormon) themed poems, though many of the poems could just as well be targeted to a general religious audience. And while I've been a Mormon all my life, many of the poems feature historical figures that I was unfamiliar with. However, the poems can be enjoyed by themselves, crucial historical details are juxtaposed next to some of the poems, and the author helpfully provides commentary on each of the poems at the back of the book.

The poems really match the description provided by the author: "They are for those who still believe in a God who wrestles. For those who think faith should challenge as much as it comforts." Much of this poetry is not what you would find in a church magazine, would not necessarily be read off the pulpit. Yet the beauty of these poems is that they capture what it means to struggle, to doubt, to grasp for droplets of faith. They address struggles in our history, true, terrible mistakes that have been made (for instance, the fighting between Utah settlers and Native American tribes). The poems are filled with emotion, with leaving and returning to God, moving through a lyrical plain, making meaning through trials and joys.

One of my favorite poems was titled "The Moth." The poem is about love and solitude, and the challenges mortals face while on earth. The poem ends with the lines:

I'm a moth--why shouldn't I be drawn
to both the flames of hell and the burning of God's glory?

Another favorite was this simple yet profound couplet:

What does the cloud-mist think of the river before it falls down as rain?
Before we came down from heaven, what did we think of pain?

These poems beg to be read aloud, to let them reverberate through your body and soul. I would read a few poems and set my kindle down, thinking about the words as I continued with my daily tasks. Like Goldberg's novel The Five Books of Jesus, Let Me Drown With Moses is a work I will definitely come back to.

[Dan Call · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book hoping that it would do for my poetic mind what Goldberg's "The Five Books of Jesus" did for my scripture-reading imagination.
It did, and then some.
For example, I now know about Ghazal, which should be taught in every writing class.
Also, this book re-imagines some venerated stories from LDS, Christian, and Jewish lore, sometimes imbuing them with a humanity we rarely see (such as Joseph Smith, Sr., ca. 1812), sometimes with awe inspiring acts of faith (the title poem). Other times we get a tragicomic, but not at all irreverent twist (like Nephi in the style of Johnny Cash).
I was completely blindsided by the power of the poems on the Provo War (of which I knew *nothing*, in spite of having been raised less than 60 miles away from where it took place.) They will find their way into my classroom, no doubt.
Goldberg's unique and varied talents are on full display here, and I can't wait to get my hands on more of his work.

[Corey Wozniak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big fan of James Goldberg. I count him among the most thoughtful and insightful Mormons living/writing today.

Personal Highlights:

"And when that morning comes"
"Provo, 2010"
"Since he was weaned"
"In the Beginning"

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was able to enjoy these poems under ideal conditions: on a long flight, with no interruptions. I read the perfectly titled “Let Me Drown with Moses” from cover to cover (including the notes on the poems) one time, and then read them again, more carefully. I haven’t been drawn into poetry so deeply in years. While it is true that I share the same faith tradition as James Goldberg, I don’t share his poetic tradition — he enriches the collection with Persian forms and motifs. So these poems felt accessible to me but also very fresh and wonderful. My favorite were the romantic poems, which I chose to read as straight up love poetry. Great stuff, here, that bears repeated readings.

[Jeanine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title poem (which is also printed on the back cover) is really what called me to this book. I’m not usually drawn to poetry, but I love the way that James makes the stories of religion feel so alive and relevant. He takes sections of scripture and turns it from myth into life. Do yourself a favor and spend some time inside his head. (I also really appreciated the “about the poems” section at the end, which gave context to some of the more obscure aspects of his poetry and, thus, more meaning to me.)

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poetry collections are a gamble. You can roll through an entire collection of wispy, vague, angsty, lost profundities without finding a winner. Doesn't mean that you shouldn't gamble on poetry, of course; when you win, you win big.

James Goldberg's collections hit the jackpot. Over and over I am touched. Let Me Drown With Moses showed me that Phoenix Song was no anomaly. Excited to read more of his works.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gentle introduction to modern Restoration i.e. Mormon poetry. Some of my favorites are:
Prayer on the Red Sea
Nephi's Vision
Baptism by Fire
A Disciple's Prayer
The Moth
At This Address
On the Road
Past the Mountains
Thieves
Provo, 2010
The Devil's a Deceiver

[Rachel Meyers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never been an avid poetry reader - for someone who is - they would really like this

[Gaby Breen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the poems, especially the ones in Section IV. They extended a much needed lifeline while I explore my own questions and faith.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not always the biggest fan of poetry, but I read this from cover to cover without putting it down - absolutely beautiful!

[Kenneth Bennion · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those poetic Sunday afternoons.

My favorites:
Prayer on the Red Sea Shore
Song for Abel Paez
A Disciple's Prayer
After Dawn
Five things are heavy

[Sydney Orton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this collection. Amazing poems that I often find myself referring back to.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goldberg’s writing is incredibly spiritual. This was a poetry collection where I spent a lot of time researching and exploring the symbolism and sentence structures. I have to admit, that some of the poems felt a little too highbrow for me - but overall, it was a really valuable read.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this poetry collection. I appreciated the big questions it explored and the different traditions it pulls from in both form and inspiration. My favorites were "A Song for Abel Paez," "Prayer on the Red Sea Shore," "Clay" (especially as a part of its larger poem cycle), "The Kingdom of God," and "Nephi's Vision (as sung by Johnny Cash)". I think the descriptor that says this is a collection for people "who still believe in a God who wrestles" is apt.