G.L. Ford lives and works in Victoria, Texas. He is the author of Sans, a book of poems (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2017). His writing has appeared in the St. Austin Review, Book and Film Globe, and The Federalist.
Poet’s Note
“After Patmos” is a poem from the point of view of St. John after the Revelation has passed through him, and after his Mother, Mary, to whom Jesus entrusted him on Calvary, has gone on to her throne in Heaven. It is of that eschatological frame of mind of the New Testament authors, who could not help but think that their Lord would return within their lifetimes to establish a New Heaven and a New Earth. As to its form: it is in seven sections, and each section in some way is based on the number seven; it is effectively a mirror, hinged on a mini-sestina. The form is syllabic, rather than metrical. Around 2002, I had found a bound dissertation on the streets of New York that argued that the Book of Revelation was structured around the number seven; I took that to heart, and wrote this poem. That dissertation was destroyed in an apartment fire in 2003, so I can’t cite the author, but the poem wouldn’t exist without it.
To read this poem, please go HERE.
