Flame

by Emily Wall

Flame, a collection of persona poems in the voice of Mary, mother of Jesus (in the Christian tradition) and Isa (in the Islamic tradition), is equal parts body and spirit, experience and myth. The poems are imaginative, as hope and faith are we need to be able to envision a better day even if we cannot see it yet. What thrills me is the restraint, and how each poem quietly--but fully--delivers. Flame is feminist, timely, and timeless. --Maggie Smith, 2018 contest judge, author of Good Bones

42 pages, Paperback

Published May 9, 2019

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

For three years, I judged this tiny book by its cover and did not read it. I didn’t know what I was missing. These are persona poems written in the voice of Mary, the mother of Jesus. They are down to earth yet profound. They really dig into what it must have been like to be Mary, living in that time and being mother to this special child. In “Stone,” she talks about Joseph. “My husband is a mystery to you/who search thin pages for mention/of his name, what he might have spent/his time doing. A carpenter/is what you imagine. . . His hands are the part of him/I liked first./They are ridged with veins./They are not a young man’s hands . . .” I love these poems. I don’t believe any Christian would object to these poems which offer comfort and a deepening knowledge of Mary.