Ten Thousand Places

The title of this book of poetry comes from the magnificent GM Hopkins poem ‘Kingfisher’, in which he uses this line;

…for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.

This book was first published in 2010, during a time when Chris was undergoing a transformation in his faith and beliefs. The book is in many ways a record of this, imagining a world where, rather than being locked into religious ghettos, god is to be encountered in the mess and beauty of the world.

Here is one of the poems;

Life still flickers

I have heard it said that

Dead men walking

We are

Corporeal

Tenderised

Like veal

Blown by flies

But life still flickers

Faint but strong

Vibrating these hollow veins

And the voltage you make

Is a current

Wired to the nape

Of my neck

Because this thing we are

Is more than just

A bottle

For blood

So much more than just

Shapes

Mixed from mud

Beautiful creature

Sing spirit –

Sing