""And It Came About After Saul's Death,"" poetry

Revised Edition: LukivPress (Victoria, BC), 2022.

Introduction

Gad and Nathan, two prophets close to David, wrote dramatic and intense Second Samuel (completed about 1040 BCE), which highlights that Judean king's highly public relationship with Jehovah over 40 years. This emotionally charged narrative (of 24 chapters) describes Israel's transformation from a place of chaos and strife to one of unity and prosperity under this brave and steadfast king. The book helps readers meditate on not only what godly obedience and integrity mean, but also on what sort of individuals Jehovah finds spiritually agreeable.

An excerpt

Chapter 2

What gift,
Or curse,
Slices foe and spills
His own sap?
See the gazelle
Speeding through
Tall grass
Into the wide
Jaws of the hungry
Wolf. See
Asahel-
Unsluggish feet!
She-bear!
Man upon a swift
Arrow!
Esteemed among
30! Abner cried:
"Stop!"
Again,
"Stop!"
With death bluntly
Sticking from his
Back, ruptured
Asahel, the fallen
Gazelle and dead lion,
Left bitterness
And revenge for
Joab, his brother,
To chew.

The author

Dan Lukiv, published in 19 countries, is a poet, novelist, columnist, short story and article writer, and independent education researcher (hermeneutic phenomenology). As a creative writer, he apprenticed with Canada's Professor Robert Harlow (recipient of the George Woodcock Achievement award for an outstanding literary career), the USA's Paul Bagdon (Spur Award finalist for Best Original Paperback), and England's D. M. Thomas (recipient of the Cheltenham Prize for Literature, Orwell Prize [biography], Los Angeles Fiction Prize, and Cholmondeley award for poetry). He attended The University of British Columbia (creative writing department), the acclaimed Humber School for Writers (poetry writing program), and Writer's Digest University (novel writing program).