Acacia, a Book of Wonders

Vincent James lives and writes in the Driftless area of Wisconsin, where he teaches creative writing at Viterbo University. James earned a Ph.D. in English & Creative Writing from the University of Denver. His other works include the chapbook, Rady, or Squirrelhunter (Ravenna Press, 2021), and the collaborative novel, Swerve (Astrophil Press, 2021). Visit him online at www.FatherFever.com.

• Acknowledgments East Texas 1980s The Meditations of Fontaine Caldwell containing the true account of her captivity, as written in her little books Book I: THE WRETCHED ESCAPES HER SHED & RECOVERED by the SON & THE SEED of THOUGHTFUL REVENGE & LIGHTNING and the TREES & THE BLOSSOMS on HER BODY & THE SECOND REMOVE & THE WATCHING NIGHTINGALE Book II: THE SWARM THICKENING & A FEEDING & INCAPABLE OF PROPHECY, A FOURTH REMOVE Book III: THE DEEP INLET & CITIES in the SKY Book IV: BLUE TRUCK & A WOUNDING & THE LABRYINTHINE THICKET & THE NIGHTINGALE’S TONGUE Book V: AWAKENED, HAVING BEEN INJURED & A BODILY DESOLATION & FED WITH NAILS & THE CONFESSOR & ANOTHER REMOVE Book VI: THE CHILDHOOD BEDROOM of the NIGHTINGALE & CONTEMPLATION and FLIGHT & WHEN THE WINDS DESCEND, a BOY is BORN &WITNESS TO THE FETTERS Book VII: RETURNED to the SHED & THE OPEN ROOF & THE WORMS & THE BEGINNINGS of DESCENT & THE ADVENT of the VULTURES & A HEAVENLY REMOVE Book VIII: RETURNED to the PEAR HOUSE & POWER in the WORD & THE DESTRUCTION of the PEAR HOUSE and the DECAY of the NIGHTINGALE & THE BIRTH of a HERALD Book IX: THE RESTORATION of the NIGHTINGALE & HER AVATAR TRUSTED YET & THE GENESIS of the ORB Book X: A WALK in the NIGHTINGALE’S GARDEN & THE RAPTURE & A VERY PUBLIC DALLIANCE Book XI: TO ERADICATE ANIMUS & THE JUDGMENT of the SON Book XII: THE MATRICES of LOSS & THE ORIGIN of ACACIA The Land The Founding The Root A Return to the Thicket The Death of the Patriarch A Hermitage no Longer The Tree The Building of Acacia Book XIII: ASCENT of POWER and the CLEANSING of the CHAPEL & THE HIDDEN ROOM of the NIGHTINGALE & THE FEEDING of the BIRDS & A SUSPICION of FOES & A CHEST & RECONSTRUCTION of the CHAPEL & A FEAST in the PEAR HOUSE & THE SHORN BEAK & THE DEFIANCE of the BOY & BANISHED to the YARD & A PRESCIENT ABSENCE & DEVOTION of the SAINTS & THE BOY and his MOTHER MAULED & THE CHAIR of the HERALD & EASEMENTS Book XIV: RETIRING from the STORY & THE BEDROOM of the HERALD & THE CONSUMPTION of my LITTLE BOOKS & A NECESSARY SCOURGING & THE RESTORATION of the BOY’S MOTHER & BEHOLDING the ORB Book XV: EVERY LIGHT LEFT LIT & WITNESS to his CAPTIVITY & THE COLLAR & THE ADVERSARY BOOK XVI: BAFFLEMENT of the ORB & ESTABLISHING his COORDINATES & A VISITATION of HEAVEN BOOK XVII: INTERPRETATION of TONGUES & MANAGING the GROUNDS of the ORB & CONFRONTATIONS with the ANTAGONIST & LABORING for SIGNS of HEAVEN’S MERCY & CAPRICIOUS WILL & A SHARING of DREAMS & THE CHURNING of MY BODY BOOK XVIII: CONTINUED STUDY & A TEASE of the ROPE & DISCERNING the SPIRIT of the BOY BOOK XIX: RETURNING to the ORB & AN INCREASE of RATIONS & A VISIT in the DEAD of NIGHT BEARING a GIFT of my OWN DESIGN & THE BLOOMS BOOK XX: THE DAY PROPHESIED DRAWS NIGH & THE DESIGNS of a DEPLETED WILL BOOK XXI: THE FLAGELLANTS & THE ASSUAGING of HEAVEN & A DAY of JUBILEE BOOK XXII: THE LOSS of MANY DEVOTED & A SCAPEGOAT to DRAW them OUT & DESCENT into the ORB & A JOINT VISITATION & THE UNION of HOUSES HEAVEN BOOK XXIII: POISONED and INDISPOSED & DUAL VISION GRANTED by HEAVEN & THE PENETRATION of the ORB & A RESCUE & A CULMINATION with the TERMAGANTS & BEARING WITNESS to the ESCAPE & IMPACT with the EARTH & A MESSENGER PRESERVED

The tangle of nervous systems and fever dreams that pulse within Acacia reminds me of an old hymn dipped in technicolor and then broadcast through the speakers of a two-toned Lincoln Continental. Church is where you make it. Shall we gather within the ruination to practice resurrection? Acacia suggests that if we do, we might experience salvation on terms we never imagined. Vincent James has written a mesmerizing novel teeming with gorgeous sentences. It’s the sort of remarkable book that manufactures its own uncanny light by which to read." —Selah Saterstrom, author of Ideal Suggestions and Slab"Acacia, by Vincent James, is exactly what it claims to be, a book of wonders. Strange, moving, extraordinary, this is work built with serious brio and serious craft. James can spin a fabulous yarn and he can write a hell of a sentence: it doesn't get any better than that." —Laird Hunt, author of Zorrie and Neverhome"In this incantatory and perilous epic, apocalypse comes to be redefined, not as an ending of the world or even simply as divine unveiling, but the arrival of a kind of knowing instigated by the imminent grief and perilous fear of finality, that is, this is a novel about lostness, about fear, about worlding outwards against the confines of treacherous boundaries. James’s lush language feels like a series of invocations, the reaching and desire described in the words resonant and enacted by the gathering of energies by the novel’s own visionary musicality. As I read, I can feel these words wanting to be recited, caught in my throat like spells. This book is magical and a revelation." —Janice Lee, author of Separation Anxiety and Imagine a Death