Poetry chapbook by Gary Metras
Finishing Line Press, 2008
Review by Rebecah Pulsifer
. . . . .In Gary Metras’s rich, chapbook-length sequence on the life of Francis d’Assisi, the reader is welcomed into a teaming, imagistic world where Francis “hear[s] God in birdsong” and is “the witness of a doe birthing a fawn / in a florid clearing....” An elegiac remembrance of the patron saint of animals and the environment, Francis d’Assisi 2008 traces the life of Francis from the beginnings of his religious awakening to long past his death, when his message still reaches “the beggar woman by Bernini’s fountain… the one with the lion in the cave of water....” As the sequence progresses, tension grows between the modern world (where “fathers…/ strap bombs to their daughters”) and Francis’ peaceful message. The two act as a counterpoint to one another, resolving finally in the sureness of a moment unquestioningly believed:. . . . . . . . . . . . . Because a child ignores the tourists and only steps
. . . . . . . . . . . . . on the white stones to enter the cathedral
. . . . . . . . . . . . . Because sheep graze the hillside
. . . . . . . . . . . . . Because a woman loves you
. . . . . . . . . . . . . there is God
. . . . . . . . . . . . . There
. . . . . . . . . . . . . is.
. . . . .Despite the occasional condemnation of the modern world—which Metras represents as “the great age of global leisure”—Francis still has a place here: a beggar woman “lifted her face to me when I placed a euro in her hand….” At times fearful of the shifting face of religion and nature, Francis d’Assisi 2008 finds its stride when it allows the colors of the old and the new to run together in what becomes simultaneously an impressionistic elegy to simplicity and a patient urban pastoral. Ultimately, Metras’s careful craft and sensitive lineation paint the life of a familiar figure in crisp, evocative images. Both for spiritual refreshment as well as literary pleasure, Francis d’Assisi 2008 is well worth reading.
Rebecah Pulsifer is the Associate Editor of OT!M.
