Two poems from Promises to Keep— “self-fulfilling” and “the prophet laments his colleagues”— appear in Jacket2’s “The imagination is not a state”: A folio in honor of William Blake, edited by K Prevallet.
These two poems are drawn from Promises to Keep (Wayfarer Books, 2026): a narrative in persona poems voicing the words of The Prophet, who lives in our present socio-political realities but is fueled by the same fiery impulse toward justice and reform of the 9th and 8th century BCE prophets of the Hebrew Bible after whom he is inspired. These prophets include Ezekiel, whose visions were famously interpreted by William Blake in word and image. As a budding poet, Songs of Innocence and of Experience was one of the first collections I purchased in college, inspiriting my writing throughout the years. Despite their boldness, Ezekiel, Blake, and The Prophet all question the nature of their Call to creative service in the world. All three also had their mental faculties called into question by contemporaries and future voices. Perhaps this is the cost of tapping into the unseen, numinous wellspring as a source of inspiration.
