"O Jehovah," poetry

Revised Edition: LukivPress (Victoria, BC), 2022.

Introduction

Traditionally, the 150 psalms-songs, praises to Jehovah-have been divided into five books (Book 1, Psalms 1 to 41; Book 2, 42 to 72; Book 3, 73 to 89; Book 4, 90 to 106 [this collection: "O Jehovah"]; and Book 5, 107 to 150). Moses (poet-prophet-songwriter) began the work. But not until over one thousand years later, in the postexilic days of 460 BCE, did this emotionally charged book of prophecy that celebrates Jehovah's grandeur and "dynamic energy" and mighty acts of fame come to its close.

An excerpt

Chapter 90

May The Wind Draw You Out

Little mist,

Confident in the wind

And shadow,

And affairs of Nimrod

Of the dry land,

See the days of timbers

And saws and lands free

For ships to sail into;

May the moon your witness

Draw curves of strange smiles

And lovely reminders of

What shall yet come to pass

To fill your belly of vapours;

May wind draw you out beyond

The ends of the earth

And your nose,

Little mist,

Remove your hands from Sheol,

And any darkness that dares to creep

Into your white cortex

Of thinking self.

Little mist,

Confident in the wind

And shadow-

Finally, finally.

The author

Dan Lukiv, published in 19 countries, is a poet, novelist, columnist, short story and article writer, and independent education researcher (hermeneutic phenomenology). As a creative writer, he apprenticed with Canada's Professor Robert Harlow (recipient of the George Woodcock Achievement award for an outstanding literary career), the USA's Paul Bagdon (Spur Award finalist for Best Original Paperback), and England's D. M. Thomas (recipient of the Cheltenham Prize for Literature, Orwell Prize [biography], Los Angeles Fiction Prize, and Cholmondeley award for poetry). He attended The University of British Columbia (creative writing department), the acclaimed Humber School for Writers (poetry writing program), and Writer's Digest University (novel writing program).