Matthew Henry
Heeding St. John Cassian’s call, The Third Renunciation rejects classic depictions of divinity and religious dogma to see God more fully. Each poem begins with a proposition (e.g. 'Say God is the music we strain to hear'), or an explanation for a Biblical story (e.g. 'maybe Jesus was having an off day'). Henry’s poetry offers answers to the myriad whys at the center of faith and doubt, gives voice to the notion that both singing and screaming are authentic responses to suffering, and argues that 'grace is a Twinkie or a cockroach-/something that never goes bad, can survive/anything the cold world throws.../ despite all our best efforts to quell it.'
