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'A meditation on living in a post-religious world, this little book is packed with big ideas about doubt, faith and redemption for the ‘delicate formation of faults’ that runs through human nature.*
'Reading these droplets of insight about everyday life is a practice in mindfulness offering the opportunity to lift the veil and gaze at eternity.
'‘A mantra that will keep us in one piece’, as the poet Kim Cheng Boey writes, this book allows us to dwell in uncomfortable ideas.
'Prayers of a Secular World is a compendium of meditations from over eighty poets including the well-loved Cate Kennedy, Judith Beveridge, Chris Wallace-Crabbe and Mark Tredinnick, award-winning poets such as Christine Paice, Lisa Jacobson, Debbi Hamilton and Lesley Lebkowicz.
'From their personal experience of our contemporary world, poets such as Ron Pretty, Robyn Rowland, David Brooks and many more have created a language of encounter that is universally resonant. Their blessings and epiphanies, insights and concerns, are the prayer that lives in all of us.' (Publication summary)
Contents
- North of Twenty-Sixi"North of twenty-six ranges of mica schist shine like grounded rainbows", single work poetry (p. 13)
- Powerful Owli"To come close to you I must become this:", single work poetry (p. 14)
- Oceani"Life rolls towards you, giving and breaking. You hear:", single work poetry (p. 15)
- Against the Unlit Seai"The figs are shrivelling", single work poetry (p. 16)
- Yeni"When they found Brenhilda, she was no more than bone chorus,", single work poetry (p. 17)
- Imagine Becoming the Seai"I have unreeled sentences from my spine's spool", single work poetry (p. 18)
- The Sadhui"He is the ever-walker, a journeyman of landscapes, treading paths that rise", single work poetry (p. 21)
- Da Barri Barri Bullet Traini"we bin get up with mista an habim gooda one beed", single work poetry (p. 22-23)
-
The Golden Templei"Outside the high gate of Mrs Bhandari's Guesthouse I flag a cycle rickshaw,",
single work
poetry
(p. 24-25)
Note: Variation of first line.
- The Joyousness of Meni"When we run together I am natively", single work poetry (p. 26)
- The Last Talker after Massi"He belts his trousers with baling twine", single work poetry (p. 27)
- The Physiognomy of Fixingi"we browse here like cattle on a grassy day", single work poetry (p. 28-29)
- Geesei"In ribbons of sound all afternoon, geese,", single work poetry (p. 30)
- Pearsi"By the light of the early morning window the taller of", single work poetry (p. 31)
- Sign of Peacei"When my uncle was dying", single work poetry (p. 32)
- The Miscellaneous Songbirds' Unioni"Songbirds,", single work poetry (p. 33)
- Hensi"I think I've been waiting for you all my life.", single work poetry (p. 34-35)
- Touchedi"A monarch flutters past overhead", single work poetry (p. 36)
- Why Do We Exist?i"The child sits, quiet as a moth,", single work poetry (p. 37)
- Icei"Polar bears have no choice", single work poetry (p. 38-39)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Large print.
Works about this Work
-
The Sacred in the Secular
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Foam:e , March no. 13 2016;
— Review of Prayers of a Secular World 2015 anthology poetry -
Creations Are Joys for Ever
2016
single work
column
— Appears in: The West Australian , 8 February 2016; (p. 7) -
Review : Prayers of a Secular World
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , January-February no. 378 2016; (p. 67)
— Review of Prayers of a Secular World 2015 anthology poetry -
Beyond Ourselves : Dee Michell Launches ‘Prayers of a Secular World’ Edited by Jordie Albiston and Kevin Brophy
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: Rochford Street Review , October - December no. 16 2015;
— Review of Prayers of a Secular World 2015 anthology poetry -
Power of Poetic Faiths
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 17 November 2015; (p. 7)
— Review of Prayers of a Secular World 2015 anthology poetry
-
Power of Poetic Faiths
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 17 November 2015; (p. 7)
— Review of Prayers of a Secular World 2015 anthology poetry -
Beyond Ourselves : Dee Michell Launches ‘Prayers of a Secular World’ Edited by Jordie Albiston and Kevin Brophy
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: Rochford Street Review , October - December no. 16 2015;
— Review of Prayers of a Secular World 2015 anthology poetry -
Review : Prayers of a Secular World
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , January-February no. 378 2016; (p. 67)
— Review of Prayers of a Secular World 2015 anthology poetry -
The Sacred in the Secular
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Foam:e , March no. 13 2016;
— Review of Prayers of a Secular World 2015 anthology poetry -
Creations Are Joys for Ever
2016
single work
column
— Appears in: The West Australian , 8 February 2016; (p. 7)