Soon Done with the Crosses: Poems - Paperback

by Claude Wilkinson (Author)

Two excerpts from spirituals, offered as epigraphs, foreshadow themes in Soon Done with the Crosses. The first song, "One of These Days," suggests inevitable burdens that all of us must bear at some point, while the second song, "Do Lord," supposes a glorious reward for those who faithfully endure. The poems in this book form a catalog of varied trials--both historical and contemporary--drawn from art, imaginings, the natural world, and aspects of the human condition, coupled with questions about eternity. Though while the collection begins with pleas for some bright assurance, it concludes in yet another vigil through dark, lonely hours, longing for morning's clarifying light.

Author Biography

Claude Wilkinson is a critic, essayist, painter, and poet. His previous poetry collections include Reading the Earth, winner of the Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award, Joy in the Morning, Marvelous Light, and World without End. He has been a provost scholar and also John and Renée Grisham Visiting Southern Writer in Residence at the University of Mississippi. Other honors for his poetry include a Walter E. Dakin Fellowship and the Whiting Writers' Award.