Friday Links
Candlemas
February 2, 2024
Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple and the Virgin of the Burning Bush
Eleanor Parker: Light a Candle; Spring is Coming
Matthew Milliner: The Tree of India
A Northern Guadalupe: Matthew Milliner
Versecraft with Elijah Perseus Blumov: East Coker IV
Pelican’s Plume & The Ox
Plough’s Rhina Espaillat Poetry Award
Eleanor Parker: Light a Candle; Spring is Coming
Eleanor Parker writes of this many-named Feast Day. If you’re on Twitter/X and not following her Clerk of Oxford account, you should be because it is fantastic.
Matthew Milliner: The Tree of India
I arrived in the early morning and pushed through the streets, fending off requests for selfies, money, and autorickshaw rides. But what I thought were impossibly crowded thoroughfares, I soon discovered, was the early morning lull. As the day’s real traffic began, I jostled shoulder to shoulder with devotees and Dalits fighting for space to move. The late-June heat intensified, and I could find no break in the cityscape for the river I had come to see. Fortunately, my requests for directions were fruitless, for this predicament led to the singular urban surprise of my life. Upon turning one corner, relief from the pressure cooker of the streetscape coincided with my first view of the Ganges itself. As I pierced through the remaining throng, the river opened like a promise. A gentle haze eased the sun, softening my view of bathers and boats immersed in brown. A stretch of white, camel-strewn sand beyond the river completed the view. Maybe the water, which was once a congested mass of Himalayan snow, was feeling the same relief from the crowding as me.
A Northern Guadalupe: Matthew Milliner
Spend your weekend reading another fascinating essay from Milliner. This is the third in his four part series on Marian devotional sites.
Versecraft with Elijah Perseus Blumov: East Coker IV
There’s not a bad episode of Versecraft, but I thought this one on Eliot’s “East Coke IV” was especially good. Listen to this episode, listen to them all.
Pelican’s Plume & The Ox
Here are two student journals you might be interested in checking out.
Plough’s Rhina Espaillat Poetry Award
This award honors the wonderful Rhina Espaillat. A. M. Juster is the contest judge. The deadline is March 31, 2024. See more details at the link.
