Canticles of the Body: A Meditation on the Liturgical Cycle

Chris Ellery has dared to create a substantial manuscript encompassing the biggest of subjects in his words all totems of the numinous. In Canticles of the Body Ellery wrestles with the many demons and angels that define our earthly existence. Though the overlay is broadly Christian he draws on his knowledge of mystical traditions the world over and his subjects range from martyrdom to childs play from dressing fish to wildcat fires. As he has St. James the Lords Brother observe First the fact and then the meaning of the fact we derive from Ellerys lucid poetry his will to get beyond the superficial and go to the heart of the Spirit difficult though such an act may be. --Jan Seale 2012 Texas Poet Laureate author of Ordinary Charms Progressing through the Christian liturgical cycle from duality to union Chris Ellerys beautiful and moving Canticles of the Body constitutes an extended meditation on incarnation even as it searches out meaning in the archetypes of many spiritual traditions. Often challenging and sometimes troubling the poems in this unique collection should provoke readers to return to Scripture and hagiography to see what they missed. --Fr. Richard Rohr OFM Center for Action and Contemplation author of Eager to Love Chris Ellery is professor of English at Angelo State University where he teaches creative writing American literature and film criticism. Author of five collections of poetry his poems stories and essays have appeared in dozens of anthologies and literary magazines. He has received the X.J. Kennedy Award for Creative Nonfiction the Alexander and Dora Raynes Poetry Prize and the Betsy Colquitt Award. He is a member of Phi Kappa Phi the Fulbright Alumni Association and the Texas Institute of Letters. Chris is active in the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd San Angelo Texas where his wife the Rev. Celia Ellery is rector.