In the darkest hours of the 17th century German witch hunts, Spee, a Jesuit priest, meditated on the confessions of accused women and resolved to subject the church's torture practices to a rigorous logical analysis. The result is a cogent and persuasive argument against all torture, and a demonstration of the overarching power of the human spirit in a time of trial. This book combines poetic meditations on Spee's uniquely compassionate essays with starkly lit photographs (from a state collection in Toledo, Spain) of many of the torture instruments used by church functionaries.

Thomas Paine claims the title The Father of the American Revolution because of Common Sense, the pro-independence monograph pamphlet he anonymously published on January 10, 1776; the work quickly spread among the literate, and, in three months, sold 120,000 copies throughout the American colonies (with only two million free inhabitants), making it a best-selling work in eighteenth-century America. It is here given a concise metered form suitable for theatrical adaptation and public performance.

This novel documents the idealistic passage of a young couple from WWII-era Brooklyn into a bleak terrain in upstate New York, where they establish a family farm. Within a span of twenty years, they raise five boys and watch them leave their dreams behind, one by one. As alcohol and disillusionment begin to cast their long shadows over the succeeding generation, each of the family's sons develops a suite of defensive behaviors; until, at last, the youngest son, Zeekie, finds redemption in becoming the family's storyteller.

Limited resources, increasing populations, and unyielding political and religious systems have engendered conflicts around the world. As a consequence, commercial interests, established institutions, and government powers have threatened fundamental aspects of human rights. In an effort to protect our rights, this book treats each article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the source for a poem, in the form of a "secular psalm." The psalms are pointed and arranged with Anglican Chant tunes for use in religious ceremonies or special events related to human rights issues (such as Yom Hashoah Remembrance Observances.) Like a pebble cast in * to the * water, Or a * son, * or a * daughter, Each of us makes a * circle of * giving - A wave goes out across the * surface * of the * living. The book also includes the author's poetic paraphrase of Aldous Huxley's "Propaganda in a Democratic Society."

Traditional cultures in many parts of the world have displayed a profound appreciation of the need for human beings to understand each other, leaving aside religious partisanship in a search for common understanding of the worldly, the transcendent, and the divine. Treasures of truth can still be found in texts which were once discarded. In these poems there is a search for a deeper and more musical understanding of religious texts which have been marginalized by established powers: the mysterious wisdom of the Gospel of Thomas, a collection of the sayings of Jesus; the passionate power of will in Judith; the simple charity of Walter Hilton's Song of Angels; and the all-embracing omniscience of Thunder, Perfect Mind: I am the one that you have despised, And still you reflect upon me. I am the one from whom you have hidden, And then you appear to me. But whenever you hide yourselves, I myself will appear.

Long before the birth of Jesus, Confucius tried to characterize human ethics and responsibilities in both personal and social spheres. The Book of Change is here arrayed with aphorisms of this thoughtful Chinese philosopher and related commentary. The ancient sayings are interpreted as a book length poem: Good people find ways to be strong, / And they do not cease from trying. / One of my pupils said to me, / "Question yourself three times a day: / Have you lost good faith with your friends? / Have you aimed true deeds at false ends? / Do you preach what you do not do?"

THE BOOK OF ASHES, (originally called Little Job, or Pety Job) is a meditative fifteenth century verse paraphrase of excerpts from the Book of Job; a passionate penitential monologue that uses as its meditative base the liturgical text intoned daily for the souls of the dead. The original author is unknown. Early manuscripts describe the work as follows: The nine lessons of the Dirge, which Job made in his tribulation lying on the dunghill, declaring more clearly to our understanding, in a solemn and worthy manner, that which will suffice to steer sinners towards compunction. This edition follows a middle English text edited by Susanna Greer Fein and then rendered into modern English by Jabez L. Van Cleef. It consists of 57 parts, each part a 12 line poem. Inasmuch as possible the content, form and meter of the original Middle English has been kept.

Rarely, if ever, has history experienced a more penetrating demonstration of the overarching power of the human spirit in a time of trial. This book is a poetic interpretation of the inquiry and condemnation of Jeanne, the maid of Domremy, recorded in 1431. Drawing on the verbatim record of the trial, this book gives the modern reader a rare look at the speech and personal demeanor of an illiterate person in the Middle Ages; made rarer by the gender and the unique personality of Jeanne, who here both originates and personifies our universal concept of human dignity.

The late sixties and early seventies in America spawned all manner of idealistic dreams through which young people thought they could re-invent the notion of the modern. These five stories investigate the ways that avoidance of commitment, in both public and personal spheres, leads to critical choices for the reluctant protagonist Jack Lindsay. We see the sad force of a role model's suicide; the calculated betrayals of unsatisfied love; the hidden pathology behind a conspiracy; the hard-heartedness of raw personal preference; the vicious and circuitous powers of alcohol addiction. The voice that tells these stories is sparse, detached, cynical, and destined to learn little from failure.

Writings of Martin Luther King, Mohandas Gandhi, and Henry David Thoreau are here brought into a common format by paraphrasing the text into metered lines (iambic pentameter); the lines are arranged to create three-line stanzas in a single unified master document. The result is a long poem in which the successive lines are bound rhythmically but not always by meaning. In each stanza the first line is from Thoreau, the second line from Gandhi, and the third line from King, as shown here: I hold this saying close beside my heart: I am not a visionary person; You cannot deny we face a crisis...

Limited resources, increasing populations, and unyielding political and religious systems have engendered conflicts around the world. As a consequence, commercial interests, established institutions, and government powers have threatened fundamental aspects of human rights. The poetry in this book interprets, in a metered format, sworn statements obtained at Baghdad Correctional Facility, Abu Ghraib, Iraq, January 16-21, 2004, and obtained by the Washington Post. It finds a dark music in the plain speech of men detained and manipulated by strangers: He said, If I give you some torture, What do you think? Would that be fair? I asked him, Why torture me then? He said, We need more information.

Continuing in the grand tradition of Rumi and Kahlil Gibran, Kabir invites us to explore the light within our own sensuality. This incomparable 15th century poet, weaver, mystic and musician of Benares helps us to find the eternal goodness of pure sensation, without allegiance to any creed or cause. "Open the window to the west, / In the sky of love, now be lost; / Drink the sweeter honey that steeps / And imbues with heat, the petals / Of the lotus of the heart's lips. / Receive the waves in your body: / What splendor is in the warm sea / Hearken to the sounds of conches / And bells, rising through the branches." The poetry of this 15th century mystic has been recreated in modern English rhymed couplets by Jabez L. Van Cleef, joining the ranks of his poetic interpretations of spiritual texts from all of the world's great religious traditions.

This is a book of aphorisms written by Ahmad ibn Muhammad Ibn Ata Allah al-Iskandari (d. 1309), here called Ibn Atallah, the third sheikh of the Shadhili Sufi order. He was born and grew up in Alexandria, then lived and died in Cairo. Ibn Atallah is well known for compressing large thoughts into a small space. The shape of the thought is smooth, small, dense, and hard. He chose the form of aphorisms to express himself because he wanted above all to spread the word of what he believed in, and indeed, many of these statements could be likened to a pebble that one might carry in one's pocket.

Traditional indigenous cultures in many parts of the world have displayed a profound appreciation of the relationship between human and ecosystem health, something global culture is once again trying to rediscover under the label of sustainability. A spiritual resource for sustainable living, these verses record the inimitable practicality of stories and proverbs told by the Igbo people of West Africa. If you imitate the upright, Then you will be upright; If you imitate the crooked, Then you will be crooked. The collection of sayings is based on life in villages, farms and forests, treating birds, insects and animals as everyday familiars. The stories personify wild creatures (primarily, the tortoise) to offer moral instruction about greed, power, and the natural human trait of being ruled by transient appetites.

Richard Rolle of Hampole, the first of the four great 14th century English contemplative authors, is often called, with justice, "the father of English mysticism." For him the life of contemplation was essentially a musical state, and song, rightly understood, embraced every aspect of the soul's communion with reality. Sudden outbursts of lyrical speech and direct appeals to musical imagery abound in his writings, as in those of no other mystic; and this constitutes their outstanding literary characteristic, as he declares himself at the very dawning of his mystical vision: "Looking to heaven with my whole desire, Suddenly, I know not in what manner, I felt in me upwelling noise of song, A surging, most liking, heavenly melody Which dwelt thereafter with me in my mind."

To promote a stronger general sense of community, THE SONG OF MARK retells the gospel story as a poem arranged in rhymed couplets with four stressed syllables per line, a form called long meter. It retains the meaning of conventional versions of the story of Jesus, while offering suitable texts for musical settings of the entire gospel or any passage of particular interest. The text does not include any of the false and sinful condemnations of Jews which have historically contributed to the practice of eliminationist anti-semitism. The crucifixion of Jesus is shown as the assertion of Roman power, with the collusion of certain religious authorities, within the context of a cosmopolitan community. In all other respects it is a text for singing that is "congruent" with holy scripture, as advised in The Book of Common Prayer.

"The theory behind writing these poems is that if you are feeling miserable, and you write about how you are feeling, with as much precision and thoroughness as you can muster, you will induce in yourself a kind of satisfaction that you are able to make something worthwhile emerge from the misery. " "The theory behind publishing these poems is that if someone else with similar feelings to your own comes along and reads about these painful states of mind, that person may also come to feel a little better, either from a better understanding or from a general sense of companionship."

The late sixties and early seventies in America spawned all manner of idealistic dreams through which young people thought they could re-invent the notion of the modern. These three stories investigate the ways that established institutions at first allured, and then later deluded, the reluctantly willing protagonist Jack Lindsay. We see the virtuous earnestness of the young teacher waylaid by the shrewd encroachments of his own desire; the continued bending of his sexual morality to pursue the attractions of opulent living and haute couture; and, finally, the drowning of a young couple's aspirations in the ocean of their own excessive carnality. The voice that tells these stories is sparse, detached, cynical, and destined to learn little from failure.

To promote a stronger general sense of community, THE SONG OF MATTHEW retells the gospel story as a poem arranged in blank verse iambic pentameter, the form used by Milton and Shakespeare. It retains the meaning of conventional versions of the story of Jesus, while offering suitable texts for musical settings of the entire gospel or any passage of particular interest. The text does not include any of the false and sinful condemnations of Jews which have historically contributed to the practice of eliminationist anti-semitism. The crucifixion of Jesus is shown as the assertion of Roman power, with the collusion of certain religious authorities, within the context of a cosmopolitan community. In all other respects it is a text for singing that is "congruent" with holy scripture, as advised in The Book of Common Prayer.

To promote a stronger general sense of community, THE SONG OF JOHN retells the gospel story as a poem arranged in stanzas of four lines with lines of four beats and three beats alternating, a ballad form called common meter. The poem retains the meaning of conventional versions of the Johannine story of Jesus, while offering suitable texts for musical settings of the entire gospel or any passage of particular interest. The text does not include any of the false and sinful condemnations of Jews which have historically contributed to the practice of eliminationist anti-semitism. The crucifixion of Jesus is shown as the assertion of Roman power, with the collusion of certain religious authorities, within the context of a cosmopolitan community. In all other respects it is a text for singing that is "congruent" with holy scripture, as advised in The Book of Common Prayer.

To promote singing, and a stronger sense of community, THE SONG OF LUKE retells the gospel story as a poem arranged in stanzas of four lines with lines of four beats, rhyming every other line, a ballad form called long meter. The poem retains the meaning of conventional versions of the story of Jesus, while offering suitable texts for musical settings of the entire gospel or any passage of particular interest. The text does not include any of the false and sinful condemnations of Jews which have historically contributed to the practice of eliminationist anti-semitism. The crucifixion of Jesus is shown as the assertion of Roman power, with the collusion of certain religious authorities, within the context of a cosmopolitan community. In all other respects it is a text for singing that is "congruent" with holy scripture, as advised in The Book of Common Prayer.

This anonymous work was originally written as a manual for teaching meditation and the contemplative life to medieval monks and nuns. Recent interest in meditation practice and centering prayer have led to a re-appraisal, discovering the possibility of psychotherapeutic benefits from studying the medieval text, by helping readers to understand pride as a distortion of truth and an impediment to wholistic living, and "meekness" as a path to health. Now for the first time this influential text has been rewritten in rhymed, measured poetry for use in guided meditation and other forms of self- realization.