Many voices, including perhaps that of God, can be heard in the title poem of Stephen Bluestone's THE PAINTED CLOCK, a dramatic meditation on the journey to Treblinka, the death camp itself, and the ultimate destination within the camp, the death chamber. Within the camp, history comes to an end and Nature as we know it is abolished. Using Treblinka as a setting, Bluestone examines man's relationship with God. Having granted man the power of moral choice, can God, too, become a victim of the Holocaust? The title poem of this volume is a powerful exploration of the covenant, if any, between the Creator and the created. In a reflection on the muses Bluestone adds that "I still can't say exactly what they do." But in poem after poem, Bluestone manages to keep their company and learn what they have to teach. Offering consolation through a modest but persistent faith, the author of THE PAINTED CLOCK struggles to name the light and darkness suffusing the world.
