Book

Kitchen hymns / [poems] by Pádraig Ó Tuama.

Summary:

Kitchen Hymns by Pádraig Ó Tuama opens with the question, "Do You Believe in God?" but shifts focus from belief to language and narrative. The collection explores philosophical themes through a unique structure, likened to a ghost mass, where longing and absence still speak. Characters like Jesus and Persephone engage in conversations about survival, and belief is questioned through vivid, lyrical imagery--such as hares carrying messages between realms. The poems address various forms of "you," from lovers to strangers, exploring themes of creation, destruction, trauma, and desire. With a blend of observation, humor, rage, and praise, Kitchen Hymns creates a powerful reckoning with emptiness and the body, offering a profound and forceful poetic exploration.

Record details

ISBN: 9781556597107
ISBN: 155659710X
Physical Description: xi, 89 pages ; 23 cm
Publisher: Port Townsend, Washington : Copper Canyon Press, [2024]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 85-86).

Formatted Contents Note:

KITCHEN HYMNS. In the name of the bee -- Mother Brendan's opening words at Ash Wednesday mass -- The long-tailed tit -- Eat this bread -- Do you believe in God? -- DO YOU BELIEVE IN GOD? [My grandad came from Abbeydorney] -- [My dad went fishing at the Old Head Cliffs] -- [Every summer, crowds of them] -- [It'll hurt he said] -- [Before it became my blood] -- [It used to be the hare and not the rabbit] -- [At twenty-three I walked in the dark] -- [He heard a voice] -- [I accepted it for far too long] -- [I turn to you] -- [It was like arriving home from school] -- [Though I've lost God] -- [The last thing I did was sweep the floor] -- KITCHEN HYMNS. PB2G -- Confession -- The long table -- The last supper -- Charade -- IN A GARDEN BY A GATE. [hellpsalm: Why are your mercies new every morning?] -- The gate to the garden -- Man's search for meaning -- Let there be lights in the vault of the sky -- There is time for time -- Who do you say I am? -- On the nature of forgetting -- [hellpsalm: On good days I say, look what I survived] -- Being and time -- [hellpsalm: I gave you my heart, but then you gave it back] -- Do you believe in God? -- For such a time as this -- [hellpsalm: I was no fool] -- The greatest of these -- The school of dreams -- [hellpsalm: not everything that's lost is lost] -- The book of revelation -- [hellpsalm: I made you into a god] -- Desire and its interpretation -- Teach us how to pray -- Now I am going to destroy the Earth -- Whosoever shall deny me, I will also deny -- I saw the earth, a void; the Heavens too, Abandoned -- Drink and be drunk with love -- In a garden by a gate -- A sword shall pierce your heart -- There is a time for war -- [hellpsalm: This is why I do not turn to you] -- You must be born again & again -- [hellpsalm: you touched my mother with death] -- KITCHEN HYMNS. Kitchen hymn -- [hellpsalm: The other day I saw something] -- Jesus and Persephone meet after many years -- Rite of baptism -- The second coming -- [untitled/missæ].