Six cycles trace redemption’s arc—from sin’s weight to stubborn joy.
Redemptions—Six Cycles from Sin to Stubborn Joy explores six dimensions of deliverance: the soul freed from sin’s grip, the poet’s voice reclaimed from algorithm, the artist’s communion with form, the heart sharpened by whimsy, the spirit quieted in epiphany, and the self enduring daily struggle. Through villanelles, limericks, and shaped verse, these poems map the terrain where discipline becomes freedom, constraint becomes craft, and grace meets grit in the everyday wrestle toward joy.
Deliverance
Ponderous weight dost squelch my soul,
Heir of ‘dam’s disgrace.
Ponderous grace dost wax it full,
Heir of Christ’s embrace.
Hinge poem—breath withdrawn from Adam restored in Christ.
Villanelle’s Villanelle (An Ode to ’Nellie Villanelle)
Villanelle did accost my being whole,
Mind, spirit, reasoning: trembled, bound, failed.
Now ’Nellie enlightened my thoughts and soul,
To ponder well-worn paths, yield life’s control,
Expand awareness, rhyme’s mount all but scaled.
Villanelle did accost my being whole,
Confusion intruded, none to cajole,
Writing fled wounded and hopefulness paled.
Now ’Nellie enlightened my thoughts and soul,
Poem’s promenade unbound, capriole
Reveals quest’s end glimmer, triumph unveiled.
Villanelle did accost my being whole,
Vision wavered, unexpected knothole
Impeded perception, talent exhaled.
Now ’Nellie enlightened my thoughts and soul:
Opened heaven’s gate, poet’s pen console,
Liberated creative skills inhaled.
Villanelle did accost my being whole,
Now ’Nellie enlightened my thoughts and soul.
A meta-celebration of form as muse. The poet’s struggle becomes revelation: constraint is not confinement but communion
Author’s Bio
Douglas R. Brandt, Ph.D., is a poet whose curiosity and love of questions began in a homemade basement lab in Kansas and finally found its deepest expression on the page of poetry. That blend of wonder and inquiry shaped a long career in science, earning a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Kansas State University and leading to decades of research, management, consulting, two patents, and multiple scientific publications before he retired in 2022 to follow the calling poetry always had on his heart.
Although early poems appeared in his high school’s Non Pareil and a Christian youth magazine, poetry became central only later — a companion of faith, reflection, and the rhythms of daily life. Doug’s work marries formal craft — villanelles, quatrains, refrains — with the precision of a scientist and the honest searching of a believer wrestling with suffering, redemption, and stubborn joy.
His collection Redemptions — Six Cycles from Sin to Stubborn Joy traces that journey from darkness into light, honoring the raw places of life and the grace threaded through them. It stands as an invitation to slow down, reflect, and find meaning in the rhythms of our own stories.
Doug lives in Lafayette, Indiana, with his wife Cheryl. Their four children, spouses, and four grandchildren bring life and laughter from near and far. He still runs barefoot and refuses easy answers.