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Father Al has brought a diversity of style and subject into my home, I am sure he will take it to your home and heart, as well.

This is a wonderful collection of poetry by an insightful and skilled poet.

This collection is aptly named. As Evensong will conclude a day of worship, the journey in this book is the journey of one man's life. Father Albert Jungers is a man who clearly lives his beliefs and writes about the world he lives in. Whether it is a haiku about his cats (which are wonderful), or helping us experience the world of a young child as in my favorite poem, "Toddler Lepidopteros Entomology", Father Al has the ability to see the sacred in the ordinary. He also understands how language can used to confuse and control, and like his Master has no patience for smug self-righteousness. His villanelle "Matins" fills the empty with hope, and his poem "All One" deals with our fall from grace in a way that a child could understand. This is a layered collection from a man that loves words and loves life. It was well worth my time reading.

THE BOOK
Dedication to Father Al

An old book, binding variegated from touch of hands over many years
Pages worn, but none torn or bent
Slips of paper tucked here and there between
Writings in calligraphy
Wisdom and spirituality

Gourmet recipes too, bits of wit and memories, the book always opened
To interpretation; binding soft and yielding
No black or white, day and night are sewn together
The book a life of dedication
To lives of others, to meditation

Teardrop stars upon the pages; listen, you'll hear laughter and prayer
No matter the season, from open window
Soft petals drift upon the book
All you need to do is look

© Lucija Jovanovic

Book is The Book, the bible, as it could also... More > be books of knowledge. Of fools & kings. A man of God who has held the bible in his hands for many years, in many terrains. The book is deeply respected, thus no pages are bent or torn. Father Al is not only a priest, & the slips of paper between represent his wonderful sense of life, humanity--of wisdom & more. His gourmet recipes you've seen; his wit--dry, winsome & sometimes a little audacious it seems, for whom many think a priest should be! The binding is soft, never rigid, harsh, or taking myths & allegories literally. Day & night are sewn together as our earthly lives & the divine. A life of dedication--in his own words: "I would know neither home nor nation/My life for others spent." Also his words: "To teach with passion bold/With deep study on my part/ to keep & pass & hold." The book is a symbol of many things, & is always open. Gentle petals fall upon it in all seasons. In it lives sorrow, hope & laughter.This is my image of Father Al.
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This would have been a beautiful introduction, my sister's dedication poem, the last page of the book. < Less

This is a book by a brilliant poet. It has something for everyone. It will be treasured by all readers.