Anno Domini

A collection of--often brief--poetic reflections, loosely based on the liturgical year, but interspersed with poems on selected Gospel passages, Anno Domini will quickly engage even the beginning reader of religious poetry. It will also appeal to seminarians and college students interested in religious poetry. Anno Domini provides a selective take on some key religious themes that will, by turns, move, console, and inspire.
The poems in this collection examine everyday perceptions, experiences, and events under the inspiration of faith. They also look at some familiar Gospel stories in a twenty-first century light. The collection as a whole presents a spirituality of presence, gratitude, and graceful living in the world.
A book of meditative verse, less cerebral than the poetry that Louis Martz examined in The Poetry of Meditation, but like Killian McDonnell's Wrestling with God, Anno Domini is a non-polemical yet thoughtful and serious contribution to Christian poetry. Meant for readers new to religious verse, it will appeal to busy people who need a moment's break for the experience of gratitude and grace as well as Christian poets seeking inspiration and models for the short religious lyric.


""This little volume invites us to look again at the small things which so often stun us with a call to depth of purpose. Ed Block's gifts as poet, contemplator, educator, and gardener combine in these lines to invite us to greater attentiveness on our daily rounds.""
--Carol Ann Smith, spiritual director; co-author of Moment By Moment: A Retreat In Everyday Life

""'In ordinary time we wait...' for poetry which touches our soul. Anno Domini paints word pictures of the real, and promises of things unseen. Behold, a book for all the seasons of our lives! Personally, I have been enriched by these prayer poems. They elicit prayerful pondering. I look forward to using them in my spiritual ministry to others.""
--Eugene F. Merz, spiritual/retreat director; co-author of Moment by Moment: A Retreat in Everyday Life

""At times bringing Gospel stories to life in moving detail, at times seeing extraordinary sacredness in nature and in the cycles of the year, at times unflinchingly confronting dryness and despair, these poems as prayers--prayers as poems--are a tremendous gift. Whether drawing our eyes to the soft grass or the weeds, Block's poems shine bright light on just how much we've been given, but settle for no cheap grace."" 
--Thomas M. Landy, College of the Holy Cross; founder and director, Collegium

""The directness and faith of a line like this one, from the poem, 'At Christmas,' permeate all of Ed Block's Anno Domini: 'At every moment / Jesus touches us with gentleness.' Indeed. Block's work opens readers up to new opportunities to receive that gentle and life-changing touch.""
--Zach Czaia, Author of Saint Paul Lives Here (In Minnesota)


Ed Block is Emeritus Professor of English at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he taught for thirty-five years. His poems have appeared in a wide variety of religious and secular magazines and journals. He is currently at work on a chapbook tentatively titled Season of Changes.