“The Father’s Forgiveness” by Daniel Bonnell
broadcast affection
touch your lips to the cruel
who never knew love
From my books Pieces of Wine and Riverthink
Christianity
All posts tagged Christianity
“Lamb of God” by Raul Berzosa
The season now nears
When grief begets joys
And faithful men’s ears
Tune out secular noise
To reflect on His gifts
Of passion and glory
On His mercy that lifts
The sin from our story
The Lamb of God died
To anchor our creed
Then rose up to guide
The life we should lead
From my book Two-Cornered Rooms
“Entry of Christ into Jerusalem” by Wilhelm Morgner
enter triumph
sweet unto Zion
sandaled peace
gently mounted
fragrant fronds
placate paths
to the passion
redemption by
mortified flesh
the beginning
of the end of
the beginning
From my books Inside the Smoke and Legacies (vol. 2)
“Meditative Bliss” by Vijay Sharon Govender
move to the quiet
the tranquil state
sought at the center
umbilical peace
altered consciousness
closed to the grief
life imposes upon
the corporeal mind
seal the spirit
in womb-skin of
eastern or western
tradition to reach
indestructible
sense of wellbeing
take care to choose
one or the other
for mixing the gods
blending Hindu and
Christian experience
relegates one to the
dubious influence
peddled by rank
New Age mystics
From my book Ephemera
“Heart Wave” by Adam Brett
abandon what cannot be kept
of the valuable fraction
for two thousand years
land’s end a conceptual
folly for land never ends
it just dives on its whim
beneath oceans the real end
is water incessantly slapping
intending to renovate faith
formed of bedrock and truth
left unmarred by philosophy
leavings of sand and stone
steadfast sufficient with gravity
footfalls for passage of men
who believe in the unanswered
answers that consternate
unwilling skeptical hearts
here at water’s edge froth
oversimple convictions
cool improvisations by
affable atheists fluid of
reason in wave after wave
of procession recession
progressing regressing
yet ever so fluent of doubt
in the ebb and flow language
of moonrise and tides
foaming arguments surge
then collapse under weight
of their very creation
for two thousand years
of the valuable fraction
abandon what cannot be kept
(From my book Pieces of Wine)
Painting by Michel Keck
Version One – originally posted March 2013
what exotic wood
soaked by noble blood of redemption
grains our pedestrian souls
Version Two
what noble wood
blest by blood of redemption
grains the skeptic soul
Image from pinterest.com
Jerusalem shudders
Her ancient stones bleed
From perpetual combat
Among three great creeds
Whose branches give forth
Each a different hued fruit
Yet all stem precisely
From one selfsame root
Abraham cries against hatred
the Christ cries for wars still begun
Mohammed cries unto injustice
My God cries for all three His sons
(originally posted April 2013)
“Crucified” by Carol Schiff
a day of dark passion
the ultimate sacrifice
dies the redeemer
the terrible gather of
consequence giving
a poignant example of
wages accruing to sin
an unbearable suffering
earned by transgression
the tendencies awful
in flawed hearts of men
here as prophesied
one man accomplished
the cleansing of souls
love eclipsing the hate
leading unto renewal
restoring the access
through faith to a path
of return unto light
here as prophesied
rescue delivered by an
unsurpassed selflessness
life born to die
for the sake of the world
greater love hath no man
Battle Weary Knight Templar – Artist Unknown
knights errant
seduced by crusade
song of Solomon
papal authority
crescentine scimitars
cruciform swords
clashed in battles
of conscience
resounding with
shuddering echoes
a raging of holy wars
waged upon ruins
of temple and time
oh Jerusalem
wherefore thy
never-end suffering
hollow the triumphs
all turned to defeats
bearing vagaries
harshly converting
the warrior scions
to warrior thieves
stolen secrets of
ritual relics become
hidden treasures
the grail and the gold
and the ark and the
architrave knowledge
of reasons for faith
esoterica sacred and
sanguine the
clandestine mysteries
anciently known but to
grave reverent priests
holding keys to the
holy of holies
a fortune of sacrosanct
chattel and knowledge
now lost in a
somewhere unknown
like the honor and virtue
once righteous and pure
antebellum in hearts of
knights errant
Photo From ebay.com
blood ruby crystal
embellished by goldsmiths
vessels serenely
decant sighs of Christendom
doges and popes once imbibed
(originally posted January 2014)
Poesy plus Polemics 