A Second of Eternity

Most religious poetry can be either highly sentimental or very pietistic. It was T.S. Eliot who said that many religious playwrights write their heroes as they WISH them to be, not dramatizing them as they ARE, with all their faults and honest shortcomings. I totally agree and feel this observation can apply to poetry as well. Certainly we want verse that is uplifting, full of vision and idealistic achievement. But the spiritual journey I am referring to involves many turbulent travels, as well as twists and severe jolts along the road. Unity with God has never been an easy task, both for the agnostic searcher as well as for the ardent believer. Yet it is those people in that quandary of grueling questioning that I somehow hope to reach. That is why some of these verses have some edgy realism. But a true spiritual journey must at times be realistic and not totally evasive of life's darker side. But I hope these poems are inspirational to those in their quest. May their journeys find them their rewards, or as the scholar said, hopefully, "their journey will be their reward."

About the Author :
Having been a mainstay of the New York City Poetry Circuit for the last twenty years, Alan Baxter has read as a featured poet in Evie Ivy's Dance of the Word at the Bowery Poetry Club and has also read his material at ABC No Rio, The Green Pavilion, and the Brownstone Poets. He has had his poems published in Nomad's Choir, the Stained Sheets, and four of his works included in the poetry anthologies Dinner with the Muse and The Venetian Hour. He hosted the Kairos Poetry Café in Manhattan for almost eighteen years, and in 2010 published his first book of poetry Shall We Have Magic? He now assists Chester Johnson with the poetry program at Trinity Wall Street Church in New York City, as well as reading poetry at St. Johns and at The Church of the Village in Greenwich Village. Alan Baxter is not only a film-maker who has co-produced many independent movies, but he is also the founder of AB Film Productions, which a number of years ago mounted the award winning film Barriers, which Mr. Baxter personally directed. He is also the producer of the documentary Artwatch which contains interviews with leading art historians who have appeared many times on the famous TV show 60 Minutes Mr. Baxter also wrote the play Juan and Emmett which Ivy Theatre produced in a small theater in New York City. He has taught literature and basic writing at The College of New Rochelle and Ramapo College. Professor Baxter was brought up in Silver Spring, Maryland, right outside Washington, DC, and later graduated from the College of William and Mary. He did his graduate work at American University. Right now he lives in both Greenwich Village, New York City and in Montreal, Canada.