""Happy Is the Man That Has Not Walked,"" poetry

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

Introduction

Traditionally, the 150 psalms-songs, praises to Jehovah-have been divided into five books (Book 1, Psalms 1 to 41 [this collection: "Happy Is the Man That Has Not Walked"]; Book 2, 42 to 72; Book 3, 73 to 89; Book 4, 90 to 106; and Book 5, 107 to 150). Moses (poet-prophet-songwriter) began the work. But not until over one thousand years later, in the postexilic days of 460 BCE, did this emotionally charged book of prophecy that celebrates Jehovah's grandeur and "dynamic energy" and mighty acts of fame come to its close.

An excerpt

Chapter 1

See the fat tree,
Filled by liquid food,
Xylem-blood
Rich like bone marrow,
Fed by roots deep below
Dark tunnels of furry
Creatures that hoard,

Fed by streams of comfort,
As a child in its mother's arms,
Fed by warm milk-

O the words, the law,
The reminders, the love
Of a father, like juice in
Ripe fruit that hangs from
Strong branches
Robed in leaves-

And the chaff blows by,
Searching for a place of rest,
A wilderness, a crag,
Moist dung to cling to.

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).