Soul Feast

Neil Astley and Pamela Robertson-Pearce are co-editors of the Bloodaxe anthologies Soul Food (2007) and Soul Feast (2024), and also collaborated on the DVD-books In Person: 30 Poets (2008) and In Person: World Poets (2017). Neil Astley is editor of Bloodaxe Books which he founded in 1978. His books include many anthologies, most notably those in the Staying Alive series: Staying Alive (2002), Being Alive (2004), Being Human (2011) and Staying Human (2020). He received an Eric Gregory Award for his poetry, and has published two poetry collections, Darwin Survivor and Biting My Tongue, as well as two novels, The End of My Tether (shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award), and The Sheep Who Changed the World. He was honoured with a D.Litt by Newcastle University for his work with Bloodaxe Books, and in 2018 was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He lives in Northumberland.Pamela Robertson-Pearce is an artist, filmmaker and translator. Her films include Imago: Meret Oppenheim (1996), on the artist who made the fur-lined teacup, and Gifted Beauty (2000), about Surrealist women artists including Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo. Imago: Meret Oppenheim won several awards, including the Swiss Film Board’s Prize for Outstanding Quality and the Gold Apple Award at the National Educational Film and Video Festival in America. She has shown her work in solo exhibitions in New York and Provincetown (Cape Cod), and in various group shows in the US and Europe. Born in Stockholm, she grew up in Sweden, Spain and England, and then for over 20 years lived mostly in America – also working in Switzerland, Norway and Albania – before moving to Northumberland.

Editors Neil Astley (Bloodaxe founder and editor) and Pamela Robertson-Pearce gracefully bring together different cultures, religions and poetry styles through a glorious mix of both contemporary voices, such as Imtiaz Dharker, Jane Clarke and Jane Hirshfield, and the likes of 14th-century Kashmiri mystic Lal Ded, Jorge Luis Borges and Langston Hughes. […] Poems, then, to heal, rejoice in and share.

• 1. JOURNEYSLorna Crozier 11 Packing for the Future: InstructionsMary O’Donnell 13 The Intimate FutureJulius Chingono 14 As I GoJericho Brown 15 CrossingStanisłav Baranczak 16 If chinaWilliam Stafford 17 The Way It IsToon Tellegen 17 ‘I drew a line…’Ruth Stone 18 Train RideTomas Tranströmer 19 TracksTed Kooser 20 November 12: 4.30 a.m.Kerry Hardie 21 We Go OnLal Ded 22 Two poems2. SOUL SEARCHJane Hirshfield 23 Counting, New Year’s Morning, What Powers Yet Remain to MeKona Macphee 25 The GiftDenise Levertov 25 The GiftArun Kolatkar 26 Yeshwant RaoTukaram 28 ‘When he comes…’Kathleen Ossip 30 The BelieverDennis O’Driscoll 31 FabricationsEdward Hirsch 35 I Was Never Able to PrayGiorgio Caproni 36 PrayerArundhathi Subramaniam 37 PrayerJorge Luis Borges 38 Poem Written in a Copy of BeowulfPeter Sirr 39 A Saxon PrimerLucie Brock-Boido 40 Soul Keeping CompanyAdriana Lisboa 41 Soul WashingMay Swenson 42 Question3. LIFE ON EARTHDenise Levertov 43 O Taste and SeeLinda Pastan 44 Imaginary ConversationMuriel Rukeyser 45 YesGregory Orr 46 To Be AliveRosemary Tonks 47 Addiction to an Old MattressMaya C. Popa 48 Dear LifeMarin Sorescu 49 With Only One LifeJohn McCullogh 50 Watermelon ManAda Limón 51 Love Poem with Apologies for My AppearanceJack Hirschman 52 PathJack Gilbert 53 A Brief for the DefenseEllen Bass 54 The Thing IsEllen Bass 55 Any Common DesolationJoan Margarit 56 Love Is a PlaceJane Hirshfield 57 A Cedary FragranceChase Twichell 58 Saint AnimalMona Arshi 59 Little PrayerWilliam Stafford 60 ListeningTuvia Ruebner 61 WonderJeong Ho-seung 62 A SpiderJane Hirshfield 63 The Supple DeerJane Hirshfield 64 The EnvoyLynne Wycherley 65 The Substitute SkyMarie Howe 66 Postscript4. ALL TOGETHER NOWFernando Pessoa 67 They Spoke to Me of People, and of Humanity.Vincent Katz 68 This Beautiful BubbleNaomi Shihab Nye 70 Gate A-4Imtiaz Dharker 72 How to Cut a PomegranateImtiaz Dharker 73 Crab-applesJohn Koethe 74 LivesTomas Tranströmer 75 After Someone’s DeathTaha Muhammad Ali 76 MaybeA.E. Housman 77 ‘Good creatures…’Tomas Tranströmer 78 AloneJeong Ho-seung 80 To DaffodilsSandra McPherson 81 Some Meanings of SilenceJohn O’Donohue 82 from For the Break-up of a RelationshipNaomi Shihab Nye 82 The Art of DisappearingLee Young-ju 84 Lumberjack DiaryNaomi Shihab Nye 85 ShouldersLauren Halderman 86 from Instead of DyingChen Chen 87 a small book of questions: chapter VIIMary Jean Chan 90 Conversation with a Fantasy MotherJane Clarke 91 SpallsSandra Cisneros 92 At Fifty I Am Startled to Find I Am in My SplendorDoug Anderson 93 Homage to Li PoAlicia Ostriker 94 Wrinkly Lady DancerLucille Clifton 95 homage to my hipsNorigo Ibaragi 96 When I Was at My Most BeautifulNorigo Ibaragi 98 Your Own Sensitivity at LeastLinda Pastan 99 I Am Learning to Abandon the WorldJoy Harjo 100 I Am a Prayer5. HOPE & LIGHTImtiaz Dharker 102 CarvingKerry Hardie 103 FleshAlyson Hallett 104 Suddenly, EverythingE.E. Cummings 105 ‘i thank You God for most this amazing’Edip Cansever 106 TableElena Shvarts 107 ‘Set your course by the Sun…’Imtiaz Dharker 108 Living SpaceBrendan Kennelly 109 PermissionAdam Zagajewski 109 Wake UpDanusha Laméris 110 Insha’AllahMiroslav Holub 111 The doorRoger Robinson 112 A Portable ParadiseBoris A. Novak 113 Decisions: IIIvan V. Lalc 114 The Spaces of HopeLisel Muller 115 HopeEnda Coyle-Greene 116 HopeEdith Södergran 117 HopeEllen Cranitch 118 HopeAi Qing 119 The LampSamuel Menashe 119 NowLangston Hughes 120 DreamsLangston Hughes 120 Harlem [2]Brendan Kennelly 121 Good Souls to SurviveMolly Fisk 122 Against PanicMichael D. Higgins 123 The Well 2Leanne O’Sullivan 124 A HealingPaula Meehan 125 SeedDerek Mahon 126 Everything Is Going To Be All Right127 Notes on the poets153 Acknowledgements159 Index of writers