For this week’s Friday review, I’m going to try something different, and present an original poem. I had the idea for this one at Christmas (obviously), but never got around to writing it then, and I didn’t have time to write anything longer today. I don’t really write poetry very often, so this is a special treat. Enjoy (or critique).

The Annunciation

No, she was not unfaithful,
but she was surprised. No man
told her it would be like this.
He looked like one, though,
and you wonder if she thought
he was speaking in euphemisms:
the stuff about shadows and spirit
being the latest line. Who knows
how many doubts she conceived
before she said yes?
But the yes is what counts. A yes,
and a let it be,
and you throw your arms open to the wind,
who catches your fears, sweeps them away,
leaving only a song in the air.

This entry kicks off a new feature this year, the New Aether Chronicle Friday Review. Each Friday’s entry will feature a review, essay, reflection, poem, or anything really–just something other than journal-like entries about my life. These are going to be better planned in advance than the journal entries, and longer, so the full text will appear behind a link.

The premiere issue of the Friday Review will revisit a topic I touched on a while ago: sophistication in popular music. So without further ado…I present Music for English Majors!

EDIT, 1/8/06: Links and pictures have been added, and sentences tightened up.
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As an English major who concentrated in creative writing, and hopes to combine theological and literary study one day, I’m always tickled pink by any music that satisfies one or more of those interests. Many of my favorite artists over the years have, to varying degrees, been unusually literary in their pedigree and approach, and I’d like to highlight some of them today.
(more…)