contents
I. december 1998–january 1999: ruthless radiance
1. volcano
2. the unmasking
3. mother
4. descent
5. psalm
II. february 1999: the red thread
1. the red thread
2. mother
3. dialogue
4. the red thread again
5. riddles
III. february–march 1999: deaths, transfigurations
1. fire
2. blood
3. earth: the shekhinah as amnesiac
4. time
IV. march–april 1999: covenant
1. preparing for passover
2. during the bombing of kosovo
3. question and answer
4. the wheel
V. may–june 1999: the mother
1. eyesight
2. our mothers: a correspondence
VI. june 1999: illusion
1. cinema
2. cretan interlude: lasithi plateau
VII. september 1999: turn and return
1. the poet in me says
2. days of awe
VIII. october–november 1999: the volcano and the covenant
1. the volcano breathes
2. psalm 37: the meek shall inherit the earth
3. I decide to call you Being
4. interlude: the avenue of the americas
5. toward the millennium
6. predawn
IX. undated poems: the space of this dialogue
1. psalm
2. seasonal
3. dark smile
4. aperture
coda
glossary
acknowledgments