Peggy Rosenthal is the author of many articles and books on poetry and Christianity including Praying the Gospels through Poetry: Lent to Easter and The Poet's Jesus. The tragedy of September 11 spurred the author to select the 10 poems in this paperback. The poets are Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist. Rosenthal describes them as "seers whom God has blessed with the vision and courage to turn the kaleidoscopes of their imagination to show us new patterns to live by . . . Poetry is a medium especially suited to transformative vision."
The author ably demonstrates her ability to give spiritual readings of the poems. The poets included are Adam Zagajewski, a Polish poet; Lucille Clifton, an African American; Scott Cairns, a Christian; Jane Hirshfield, a Zen Buddhist; Mahmoud Darwish, a Palestinian; Denise Levertov, an American poet; Wendell Berry, an American essayist and poet; Daniel Berrigan, a Jesuit priest; Yehuda Amichai, an Israeli poet; and Maren Tirabassi, an American poet.
"Just as violence has the power to numb our spirits so dreadfully that we can't even picture what God wants of us, the freed imagination has the power to reenliven our relation to God," writes Rosenthal. After sharing her interpretations of how each poem leads her to hope, she adds prayer focuses that arise from it. These stalwart poems plant seeds of hope in our hearts and the suggested devotional practices help them grow into peace.
