Do we, then, find ourselves unable to know how to act ethically in our society — a society that glorifies money and global trade to make the rich richer, that deposits the poor at the outermost edges of community, that stands aside as our heritage disintegrates, that funds wars that dislocate peoples and destroy countries, that supports beliefs steeped in greed but cares nothing about the true value and meaning of life?
The intent of this book, which is available here, is to enable the discovery of ways and means to find a way through these deceits, and so guide a reconsideration of any course of action thought to be right, even though we knew, in our heart, it could not bring happiness, ever.
Caravaggio’s Dagger concentrates on identification of the need and process for the selection of right action, and, as a direct consequence, the creation of constructive, and ethically meaningful, social and personal benefit.
In six chapters, Caravaggio’s Dagger examines these concerns, beginning with the constancy of war and related social falsehoods; and continuing with decisions, especially those that affect relationships, that are made when you are young; the evaluation of these relationships as you reach middle age; the value these relationships hold when the inevitable loss of family sets in; the lessons your life partner and your friends will want to help you through; to enable you to find and take the course of action that is right, for you, in the moral rubble found all around you.
The book is introduced in 70 seconds in this video:
Caravaggio’s Dagger is available for purchase in print, Kindle, and Epub editions at:
and through many other international and local online distributors.
Exemplified by the art of Caravaggio, this work inquires: what, then, is a pursuit of right action? Caravaggio, the murderous, brilliant 16th-century painter, depicted the beheading of John the Baptist at the moment the act is botched: jugular severed, head attached, the saint in agony—a rendering of humanity’s predilections placed above the altar of the Maltese co-cathedral of the military Knights of Saint John.
Caravaggio’s Dagger is published by Iguana Books (Toronto, Ontario, 2013, 105 pp.). Its chapbook version was a finalist for the Sharon Drummond Chapbook Prize, Calgary, Alberta, 2013. Many of this book’s poems were previously published in established Canadian literary periodicals such as Canadian Literature (University of British Columbia), Descant, The Fiddlehead (University of New Brunswick), Grain, Prairie Fire, The New Quarterly (University of Waterloo), Nashwaak Review (St. Thomas University), Contemporary Verse 2, The Malahat Review (University of Victoria), Qwerty (University of New Brunswick), WordWorks, and Windsor Review (University of Windsor), as well as in well-regarded periodicals that have ceased publication, such as Ala, Colorado Quarterly, Quarry, and The Far Point.
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Thank you for writing on what appears to be a thoughtful pursuit of taxing complexities with their staggering consequences for humanity, earth and universe. Are we asking and seeking yet what the true source of right action/ moral deed is?
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[…] Caravaggio’s Dagger, which considers the concept of, and actions that relate to, a pursuit of right action, was completed in Vancouver, in July, 2005. It will be published by Toronto’s Iguana Books in September, 2013. The book is structured as six Taxonomies, of which the first,“The Pyre of the Accidental Butterfly,” deals with instances of war and social disruption. “Too Often Not A Dream” is the 11th and culminating poem of that Taxonomy. […]
[…] Lionelli Puppi’s fine short work on Rembrandt was well worth the re-reading—after an impossible interval of 15 years. Aside from Rembrandt’s indisputable greatness, I am additionally drawn to him because he was born in the same town as I, Leiden, and studied, in Amsterdam, under Pieter Lastman, said to be “the most influential Dutch painter of the time,” and who greatly admired the Italian Caravaggio, one of the profound influences of my book, Caravaggio`s Dagger. […]
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[…] Milestone, Lewis: All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). – An unrelenting examination of the worthlessness of war. There is an unexpected correlation between the closing scenes and the first section, Pyre of the Accidental Butterfly, of my book, Caravaggio’s Dagger. […]