Robert B. Repenning is a practicing poet who served as a Catholic chaplain in Operation Iraqi Freedom 3. He has been nurtured, almost all of his life, by the beautiful downstate precincts of the Hudson Valley. While pastoring a wonderful congregation in scenic Dutchess County, Robert still loves to dabble in poetry and short stories.

This spacious piece that pulls the reader into the dangerous orbit of the war zone. The gravity is unmistakable. Cathartic, reflective, maddening - this is the face of combat told by a non-combatant. No bars are held, no false bravado, this is an unflinching look into the abyss and the confidence that grace will prevail. "The Ghostland Ritual" falls somewhere in the realm between a psalm and a ransom note. This epic montage invites the reader into an experience like no other, into the mind of a man grappling with a world, a war and the word.