Mountain Beneath the Sea

Description:
'Mountain beneath the Sea' is a poetic meditation on the creative spirit.

Visionary narrative carries readers into a gradual understanding of the eternally creative forces and symbols underlying Life's processes at work in the natural and personal world. The poetry has been written with the speculative audience in mind; themes and language have been crafted to create a constellated environment that encourages exploration and development of discussions and interpretations.

Endorsements:
Readers of M. Zilske's poetry should remember to dim the glare of the left brain and illuminate the indirect lighting from the right brain. In this way, as the German philosopher Heidegger suggested, the truth of Being can anoint us with the breath of the muse through the lips of the poet. Or, as the Danish existentialist, Soren Kierkegaard, once wrote, ""transpose the anguish of the heart under the impact of reality into sounds which escape the lips like ravishing music."" ""Good theology,"" I once wrote, ""must sing as well as sting."" Zilske may not think of himself as a theologian, but his intuition and instincts touch the face of God.

""Nothing less than the robust ambiguity of the poet can awaken us from the drugged sleep caused by versions of certainty thrust upon us by those who would claim our minds while killing the soul. Zilske's poetry recalls theologian Karl Barth's comments on Dietrich Bonhoeffer (a poet in prison!) as 'an impulsive, visionary thinker,' whose enigmatic letters must be read 'with the thought that --when seen round some corner or other --he might be right.' So it is with these poems: they led me deeper than I wanted to go and higher than I thought I could go, but on more than one occasion, I turned a corner and caught a glimpse of the face of God.""

Ray S. Anderson, Senior Professor of Theology and Ministry, Fuller Theological Seminary


About the Contributor(s):
Matthew Zilske graduated with a writing degree and the Creative Writing Award from Eastern University, St. Davids, Pennsylvania.