Marjorie Maddox’s capacious poetry

Marjorie Maddox’s impressive new poetry collection suggests by its title that the reader is embarking on a journey. Maddox, who has produced 13 books of luminous poetry and teaches at Lock Haven University, has earned her credentials as an experienced guide. “Begin with a question” is a writing prompt; it is also, as we come to discover, a prompt applicable to living a life of faith.

The title poem is a sestina that begins—obediently? rebelliously?—with the most challenging of questions:

But why? By dawn, the day already
brims with answers: Yes, you may question
the universe; no, God will not answer;
yes, a double negative could mean maybe
this strange world cowers inside another Yes—
or not. What a knot of not-knowing creates our No’s.