blackbird online journal spring 2002 vol.1 no. 1

POETRY

NORMAN DUBIE

Book of the Jaspers
   from The Spirit Tablets at Goa Lake

"Book of the Jaspers" is the second of three sections that make up the completed manuscript of Norman Dubie's Buddhist-inspired, futurist epic, The Spirit Tablets at Goa Lake.

Section one of the manuscript, "Book of the Jewel Worm," appears in Blackbird, Vol. 1, No. 2, published November 1, 2002. Section three, "The Book of Crying Kanglings," appears in Blackbird, Vol. 2, No. 2, published November 1, 2003.

Because the manuscript is published serially across three issues, we have tried to give you plenty of signposts by which to find your way. Please be aware that links from the Table of Contents may take you outside the archive or issue from which you enter the Table of Contents.

Cliff Edwards, Virginia Commonwealth University professor of philosophy and religious studies, provides notes for readers unfamiliar with Buddhism (see Table of Contents below). He writes, "The long poem can weave its magic whether one understands the world of Tibetan Buddhism and its vocabulary or not. . . . Nevertheless, some knowledge of the world-view and technical terms of Tibet's Vajrayana might enrich one's reading and open another level of understanding."  

Begin Book of the Jaspers


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