Kilian McDonnell, OSB Poetry
Some poets begin very early to write great poetry. Arthur Rimbaud wrote one of his best poems at 15, Percy Shelley published his first book of poetry at 18. But Kilian McDonnell, OSB, did not start until he was 75, after decades of writing as a professional theologian. At age 82, he gave us Swift, Lord, You Are Not (Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN, 2003), poems of the struggle to find God, while waiting for God's silence to break.
Only three years later, Yahweh's Other Shoe, was published (Liturgical Press, 2006), in which Fr. Kilian takes on the great themes of poetry: desire, mortality, love and age, brotherhood and God. Engaging with the events of our day, the great physical world around us, the intricate world of human relationships, and the spiritual journey of a monk, the poems continuously reveal what it means to be human.
And then in 2009, out of a lifetime of familiarity with the great biblical narratives, Fr. Kilian gives to us his third collection, God Drops and Loses Things (St. John's University Press). The poems are by turns edgy, affectionate, gentle, deeply moving, and always compassionate. Fr. Kilian's book is now available in the CSB/SJU Bookstores.
Congratulations, Fr. Kilian, on your new publication!