“Eye of the Needle” by Vladimir Kush
forget about camels
contrite men may pass through
the needle to grace
earthly goods left behind
no more wounds need be sewn
Bible
All posts tagged Bible
“Agony in the Garden” by El Greco
in a sorrow of olives
did agony speak
quiet lesson in prayer
a foreboding of
imminent suffering
let this cup pass
will and weakness
conjoined and inhered
in a most human hour
while nearby exhaustion
from grief and from fear
laid three hearts down
in sleep of despair
loath to witness
a strengthening angel
assist in their Teacher’s
divine transformation
resolved to submission
embracing with passion
all pain of mortality
trusting that love
has a purpose
a purpose so great
it required dark
midnight betrayal
to reach its fulfilment
“Sermon on the Mount” by Dirk A. Walker
gentle octave
proclaimed
from the mount
cryptic cardinal
biblical themes
manifesto of
ethical doctrines
through language
resourceful of hope
inner qualities
meriting grace
in reward of a
suffering spirit
a framework for
practice of faith
models triumph
of soul over
circumstance abject
of human condition
sublime in the
mystical mouth
of the Lamb
till they touch
eager ears of
good shepherds
disciples who
carried the Word
like sweet water
for slaking the
thirsty expanse of
an unsettled earth
pious wisdom
transcendent
with salient mercies
articulate truths
to newly relieve
old beliefs
here is sermon
chiastic with virtues
large blessings
contained within
smaller theologies
given expression
by limitless love
in the form of
exquisite compassion
divine and direct
from the sacredmost
Teacher of teachers
“Creation” by OneLifeOneArt
light appeared
divine instant
an infinite spark
cosmic womb
bearing life
from the void
a beginning
of numberless
edifications
perpetual motion
of stillness
from nothing
an everything
filling the
endlessness
empathic spaces
that quicken
the depth and
the breadth
of all time
light appeared
divine instant
an infinite spark
generations
commenced
seven days
of eternity
* * *
“These are the generations (toledoth) of the heavens and the earth when they were created.” – Genesis 2:4
Terebinth Tree of Abraham at Mamre
shades of slain giants
loom over the valley of Elah
arising from ground
where the armies of David
drew breath from the
scent of the terebinth
sovereign claims
ancient-held
remain haunted
by conflicts of histories
carried by quarrelling
children of Abraham
borrowing philistine violence
that lingers on limbs
gnarled by witnessing
tortures of blood
unremitting of terror
since biblical age
war the everlast legacy
rooted in schisms of faith
“Broken Idol” by Ralph Wickiser
tragic are the heroes
who succumb to the light
the revealing bright truth
of assiduous time
head and shoulders
perceived pure of gold
breast ennobled of silver
brass waist legs of iron
poor flawed feet of clay
thus do kingdoms
divide themselves
unto their fall
“Genome” by Regina Valluzzi
invisible chalice
where gods find
my decanted essence
an odd smoky wine
pressed from ancestry
bittersweet swirls
with Italianate tannins
pulp and pith squeezings
of Adam’s hard rib
and the motherly
womb flesh of Eve
which god will drink me
incorporate relics
of my sheer mortality
my mere morality
coaxing the offspring of
Watson and Crick
to drunkenly map
regions hiding beyond
the human bi-helix where
lives the quintessence
of demigods
“Mount Sinai” by Yoram Raanan
uncertain summit
sacred among
peaks of exodus
roofing the pharaoh
here somewhere
did granites bear
Decalogue stones
paired mosaics of
lawgiver language
adapted in time
through the schisms
of faith by three
scriptural books
given reverent
devotion by disparate
children of Abraham
common of roots
drawn from desert
and mountain yet
deeply estranged by
construal of doctrine
“In Maine” by Andrew Wyeth
universal beliefs
don’t exist
anymore since
proto-rogue
lifted his hand
toppling monuments
into the mud
I think that
his name
was Cain
“Night of the Blood Moon”
Painting by Eric Forster
From fineartamerica.com
blood on the moon
fourth and final in
sequence of tetrad
apocalypse born
from astronomy’s womb
recrudescent of prophecy
ancient and modern
redemption come forth
from a dark tribulation
as scripture reveals
but my imperfection
is less pessimistic
an underformed faith
reluctant to accept such
a stern exegesis of
imminent moral catastrophe
rather perceiving the
blood on the moon
as a cosmic reminder
of my own mortality
Poesy plus Polemics 