In Touch the Earth, Drew Jackson continues the project he began in God Speaks Through Wombs, reflecting on the Gospel of Luke through poetry. Touch the Earth picks up in chapter nine and continues through the end of Luke's Gospel. Part protest poetry, part biblical commentary, Jackson presents the gospel story in all its liberative power. Here the gospel is the "fresh words / that speak of / things impossible."
From the feeding of the multitude ("The best hosts always provide / take home containers") to the resurrection of Jesus ("the belly of mother Earth / is, indeed, a womb... the humus of life is where we become fully human"), this collection helps us hear the hum of deliverance-against all hope-that's been in the gospel all along.
"In Touch the Earth, Drew Jackson gives us language for how to move through the earth and toward one another."
Ekemini Uwan, public theologian and cohost of Truth's Table Podcast
"This collection is a companion for mystics and storytellers alike. Poem after poem, Drew Jackson approaches questions of community and trust and meets them not with the bore of certainty but a reverence for the unspoken, for mystery and suspense. Jackson's words will leave you waiting in the silence . . . but never alone."
Cole Arthur Riley, creator of Black Liturgies and author of This Here Flesh
"There are seasons for prose and seasons for poetry, and we find ourselves, certainly, in the latter. I can think of no better guide and no more insightful voice for this moment than Drew Jackson's. Drew's ability to challenge and surprise through language and rhythm is unparalleled, and I'm so grateful for these poems."
Shauna Niequist, author of I Guess I Haven't Learned That Yet and Present Over Perfect
