Text

theses

ETD graduate

This compilation of poems entitled “In the Shadow of Your Wings” represents the work of four semesters in the graduate program for creative writing at Rutgers University – Camden. Most of this material has been composed over the last six months, since I have returned to the Midwest to work and write during the pandemic. However, to me it is the culmination of a long progress that began my first weeks in the program in 2018. I would like to acknowledge that progress and the teachers who made it possible. For any sense of body the poems might achieve, I thank Gregory Pardlo who taught me to feel for form and to construct a poem with integrity. I also thank Pat Rosal who helped me become attuned to my own voice and to deal bravely with what it reveals to me. And lastly, I thank Lisa Zeidner who encouraged me to cross this finish line and to continue ahead in this work, who helped bring this thesis into a collected whole and gave these pieces more clarity and sharpness with her generous guidance.

As a title, “In the Shadow of Your Wings” frames the thesis’ central desires for peace, presence, and home, while cuing the ironies that arise in the struggle to find these things. The shadow of G-d’s wings is traditionally understood to be a safe harbor (wings in nature, likewise, may be consoling or inspiring), but a shadow suggests a compromising darkness, a blindness even, that comes from this dependency. The loneliness which accompanies the passivity of this posture, in the case of these poems, seeks refuge from a world that demands engagement and action as it suffers crises of injustice and apathy on many fronts. Ultimately, I hope the arc of this thesis demonstrates the possibilities for redemption, renewal, and for the courage to live for others despite darkness, hostility, and loss.

Once again, I thank the English Graduate Department at Rutgers University – Camden, the Writers House, the wise and talented cohorts who taught me everything else, as well as my beloved friends, Godcaster and Brooke Wolters.

ETD_11354

M.F.A.

Includes bibliographical references

doi:10.7282/t3-kjba-sh97

The author owns the copyright to this work.