Book II-Joshua to Esther, poetry

Revised Edition: LukivPress (Victoria, BC), 2022. An excerpt, a poem based on Esther chapter five A (thorny) burnet and caper,
Acanthus, box- and hawthorn,
A walking source of injury,
With thistle hands, and thorns
For hair upon his arms and legs
As if he were a creature before
Men breathed, like the many
Frozen in time in rock layers
That little chisels chip away at.
How irregular his fingers look,
Reaching for flesh to embrace,
How odd the protrusions of round
And cylindrical heads upon his scalp,
That bloom into soft, silky white,
Yellow and purple flowers that
Reflect goodness but turn brown
And die. Adam found the likes of you
Outside Eden protected by cherubs
And the deadly flaming sword.
Haman the bush, the hedge, good
Food for camels, asses, and goats,
See, there you go, rolling along
The howling wilderness,
Rolling, gone. The author Dan Lukiv, published in 19 countries, is a poet, novelist, columnist, short story and article writer, and independent education researcher (hermeneutic phenomenology). As a creative writer, he apprenticed with Canada's Professor Robert Harlow (recipient of the George Woodcock Achievement award for an outstanding literary career), the USA's Paul Bagdon (Spur Award finalist for Best Original Paperback), and England's D. M. Thomas (recipient of the Cheltenham Prize for Literature, Orwell Prize [biography], Los Angeles Fiction Prize, and Cholmondeley award for poetry). He attended The University of British Columbia (creative writing department), the acclaimed Humber School for Writers (poetry writing program), and Writer's Digest University (novel writing program).