In its procession through indirection to attention, Gospel Earth, Jeffery Beam's big book of little poems, traces a transcendent open ecstasy & radiant physicality. Bridging aphoristic composure, Vedic & Zen alertness & the ecstasy of the Christian, Bhaktic, & Sufi mystics, the poems invoke earth spirits & the luminous power of the Word, breaching the divide between creation & humanity, healing the domination heating the earth & searing our moral compass. The poems animate the natural world beyond the confines of language, demonstrating once again as North Carolina's Independent Weekly stated "how large a canvas he can paint with a few deft strokes". Described by the poet as a work intended to "invigorate the startling propulsion of haiku's accessible simplicity & minimalism", Gospel Earth assembles a new Gnostic gospel, a distinct & astonishing beauty.
