At Jerusalem’s Gate: Poems of Easter

Through beau­ti­ful, lucid free verse, Nik­ki Grimes explores some of the ambigu­ous, enig­mat­ic events and cir­cum­stances lead­ing up to the cen­tral theme behind the annu­al East­er obser­vance. Twen­ty-two poems intro­duced by a brief explana­to­ry para­graph por­tray the sto­ry through the imag­ined eyes of the prin­ci­pals involved. Details of the Last Sup­per, Pilate’s wife’s role, the reli­gious coun­cil tri­bunal, Mary’s grief, the dark­en­ing of the sky at the time of the cru­ci­fix­ion and the site of the ascen­sion are all includ­ed. Ques­tions raised in each piece encour­age dis­cus­sion of mul­ti­ple inter­pre­ta­tions, as in the poem titled “What’s in a Name?,” which refers to Judas’s role as one of betray­er and the sub­se­quent altered impli­ca­tion to his name. Poet­ry is gen­tle yet thought­ful, allud­ing to the bru­tal­i­ty of the exe­cu­tion while pro­vid­ing an almost prayer-like per­son­al reflec­tion. Mul­ti-col­ored wood­cuts sug­gest the emo­tion and mood of each scene in a par­o­dy of stained glass. A hand­some, well-designed offer­ing for mid­dle read­ers and fam­i­lies. (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)