Seasons of Lotus, Seasons of Bone

"Matthew Shenoda's poetry will open your mind to another world that exists inside and outside of your own." —Amiri Baraka

Matthew Shenoda is a powerful emerging voice, a poet who speaks of history, cultural memory, ecological concerns, and the continuum of past and present. Weaving together narratives of ancient and contemporary Egypt while exploring the ecological shifts of the Nile river valley, Seasons of Lotus, Seasons of Bone introduces a rare perspective at the crossroads of the African continent and its diasporas.  Steeped heavily in the Papyrus of Ani, (the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead) Seasons of Lotus, Seasons of Bone delves into an inquiry of the contemporary human condition, the loss of culture and place, and the existing schism between the secular and spiritual.  His takes on culture and the process of integrating – or being unable to integrate – one’s inherited culture with larger American culture make Shenoda’s work socially significant, bold, and politically relevant.

"No poet exercises the healing powers of poetry like Shenoda, whose verse reads like prayer, incantation --the soothing words of hope to mend a damaged world." --National Book Critics Circle

Schism

One man dreams
Of fire
But cannot strike
Two sticks  

Together 

One man strikes
Two sticks
But cannot dream
Of fire

BOA Editions, Ltd 2009

Available Editions:
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ISBN: 978-1-934414-27-9
Paperback $16.00
Publishing Date: 2009