Poets’ Corner
I.M. , I.M.
north Louisiana On holy ground these woods reclaim There now remains one standing stone, The others fallen, name by name, A country graveyard overgrown. The marble, lichen-crusted, worn, By weathering time in time displaced, Tilts on a base by storms uptorn, With runner, web, and tendril graced. An angel kneels, with folded wings, While floating…
Pentecost, 2017
Lord, save me from this rushing mighty wind That beats me beyond belief — buffets, blows The breath from me till I can’t walk, can hardly stand, just Stumble. Its confounding force opposes my progress, slows My steps, outdoes my poise – Checks, chokes me, hurts, thwarts, throws dust In my eyes, Defies my tries…
Dragonlike Nature of Christ in the Incarnation
Metaphors of dragons to understand Christ’s humanity and divinity Compares to awareness of right hand Truth tied up in the Blessed Trinity Dragon could be destroying villages All the while human Junius lecturesHe’s oblivious to the destruction.We put God in a box with diligence And “natures don’t do stuff” he conjectures Emily draws the Yale…
Three Adams
Dali paintings, skulls and monsters, particolored wings, Cards and dice and portraits line the walls of Suicide Kings. Breathing shallow, still as rock, I’m trying not to blink. Virgin plains of ruddy skin imbibing jet black ink. Adam leans against my back and scribes a fearful face: An image of an image of the saviour…
No Health
In the classic Books of Common Prayer, Morning and Evening Prayer begin with a confession of sin. Modern liturgical revisers struggle with some of the wording, finding it too definite and too hard to say. The phrase, “…and there is no health in us…” is particularly troubling to them. It shouldn’t be. Because they are…
THE BOOK TO THE READER
Judge not before Thou know mine intent, But read me throughout, And then say thy fill: As thou in opinion Art minded and bent, Whether it be Either good or ill. I care not for praise, Nor slander untrue, Of man nor of child, Whatever he be: Truth need not to fear, Who doth it…
Praying to Themselves
I’ve been reading Graham Greene’s Orient Express and this passage struck me. In this scene, Dr. Czinner (a Serbian communist revolutionary) has the sudden urge to seek confession and search out the Anglican priest he noticed earlier on the train. “Dr. Czinner drew the door to and sat in the opposite seat. ‘You are a priest?’…
I Travelled These Roads With My Father Once
I travelled these roads with my father once, Long ago. I gallop my mount across the clouds Far from home. Beneath the oceanic heavens Soar his prayers like an eagle above me, Clutching the fasces, a bundle of rods And an axe, closely bound Like a father and his sons, One as the sun…
Epiphany
TO-DAY every thing preaches, in Heaven and in earth; And all preach the same thing; “Come and worship.” The Shepherds preach; For they have not done telling of Christmas night. Bethlehem preaches; For it shows Him born of a Virgin, And born where the Prophet said He should be. The Angels preach, By the memory…
Baptism
The dove surveyed the vast expanse of sea, Yet found no branch on which to rest her feet. The world lay dead, covered in water thoroughly, Until God’s solemn judgment was complete. Then she, by bringing back one olive leaf, Preached grace and mercy as the floods withdrew. At God’s word, Noah stepped out in…