"Deny not, Regis, how long you have lived...
you have always lived
In the very vastness of My heart
As the waiting portrait of My eternal being."

I was drawn by the title of this biblical allegory, A Requiem for Love by author Calvin Miller, as someone who very much enjoyed the classic epic poem Paradise Lost by John Milton.

Indeed, I also enjoyed the lyrical flow of this mix of fantasy and poetry that tells of Regis and Regina, a man and woman in love at the heart of creation.

Granted, I didn't agree with all the spiritual points in the tale. And it bothered me to see how much time the story spends on Regina's downward spiral and not on Regis's, as if the responsibility of everything that goes wrong is mostly hers.

I mean, if Regis were so strong in the Earthmaker's love and truth and wasn't dealing with his own hard struggle, wouldn't Regis have been strong enough in his convictions not to give up all that was sacred and eat the forbidden fruit when Regina asked him to? Might he have thought there could be another way? There had to have been more going south with him already, not just with Regina.

Nevertheless, I appreciate how this work sings, and even with its inevitable tragedy, the ending is one that resounds with hope. ( )