Jesus Speaks to Ears that Hear (villanelle)

Tuesday was World Poetry Day, so I challenged myself to capture some of Jesus’ teachings in in the style of a villanelle.

Sermon of the Beatitudes
 James Tissot, c. 1890

If you have ears to hear, then hear
You are my salt and shining light
Yield not to temptation nor fear

Repent for the kingdom is near
Walk the path that’s not wide but tight
If you have ears to hear, then hear

Store treasures in heaven not here
A choice that requires foresight
Yield not to temptation nor fear

Do not hide beneath a veneer
The pure in heart give me delight
If you have ears to hear, then hear

High is the cost to follow near
But my yoke and burden are light
Yield not to temptation nor fear

Faith you must keep till I appear
Take hold of life, fight the good fight
If you have ears to hear, then hear
Yield not to temptation nor fear

Twas a Tale of Two Falls

A theological poem using the rhyme scheme known as anapaestic tetrameter found in Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Illustration for John Milton’s “Paradise Lost“ by Gustave Doré

Twas before the beginning when God formed a plan
to create heavens and earth and even a man.
Before earth’s big debut, there was a prior start.
The angels were created and given a part.
Praising the Ancient One in His glorious light. 
The winged creatures serve Him all day, there’s never night.

But wait. How can we know the order of these things?
Can angels rejoice before they’re made by the King?
For eternity has no before or after.
It’s one endless now without former or latter.
Now, if time is the space that’s between two events, 
then to order them ask: when did the clock commence?
Before earth and sky are spoken into being,
what else can give things chronological meaning?

Let’s go back to the start before our inception 
when angels were pure and were without deception.

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A Follower Waits…

It is National Poetry Month, so I thought I would explore what a follower of Jesus might feel on that day before the first Easter. It is done in the style of a villanelle.

Now begins the dreaded long wait
Wobbly my body starts to sway
Staring in angst at the locked gate

I try to be strong in this state
My trembling does my fear betray
Now begins the dreaded long wait

The guilt holds, it does not abate
My failures, against me, inveigh
Staring in angst at the locked gate

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