Fathers and Sons

Creator of the universe, my father you may be,

But daddy do you have the time to stop and talk to me?

While seas do rage and mountains quake and all the creatures groan,

I sit in silence on my couch, in stillness all alone. 

Where is your voice if I do speak to you with eyes upturned?

Will you reply to what I ask, or shall I be son spurned?

Teach me to hear your voice that shows a son that you do care, 

For I see not your face nor feel your hands nor smell your hair. 

In thunder, speak to me today. In silence, whisper words.

With blinding light, with mighty might, with praises sung by birds.

Or better yet, just show your face, whether God or son of man,

And move your lips and blow your breath toward this son, if, I am.

Wife

None see you with the eyes nor hear with ears,
Nor feel you with the hand, nor smell your breath.
You lie beyond all senses, out of reach,
Surviving without body beyond death. 
We joined ourselves together in one flesh
In marriage vows pronouncèd true in love,
You thought a brown-eyed boy would hold your hand,
I thought God sent me beauty from above. 
But later did I learn that you weren't you,
Your eyes are just the window to your soul.
The body, though it is, will not remain
When you depart to heaven, you in whole. 
For you are more than mouth and lips and teeth.
The you you are is hidden deep beneath.

The Student Body

A student body seated in a room
With eyes of blue and brown and hazel green,
Some future veilèd bride or waiting groom
Considers how they are by others seen. 
“Am I as fair as her or thin as she?”
“How beautiful am in I in others eyes?”
“Am I as tall as him or strong as he?”
“Have I received respect or been despised?”
Each wonders of the person who inside
Resides within the middle of the chest.
When doubting of herself, she runs to hide.
He fears they see the worst and not the best.
Lord, give me eyes to see the souls within
These temples finely wrapped in thinnest skin.

King of Judah

I Samuel 7:12

When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

Where are the bones of David's son
That God should raise them up?
To stand upon Jerusalem
And drink from Judah's cup?
Where have they laid his body down
That it might rise again
To sit enthroned in David's robes,
God born from sons of men?
They sang a dirge, we did not weep;
They cooked, we did not eat.
The son who died returned to us; 
We mocked him in the street.
But when he left we knew that we
Had buried him again:
A foolish son, the strangest one
Of all the sons of men.
Search out the bones of David's son:
Where did we lay them down?
For if they would arise again,
The skull would wear a crown.

Sonnet, April 20, 2022

 Oh, Evelyn, do you remember when

You wanted us to take you to the priest,

To let him sprinkle water on your head

And place within your mouth the heavenly feast?

Now, eight years on, do you know what He did

When God above received you as His child,

Believing that His son, our brother, Christ,

Shed blood upon a cross in meekness mild?

The wafer in your mouth and wine on lips,

The wetness of the water on your head,

The solemn hymn of praise and newborn name

Serve but to raise your body from the dead. 

Believe still in the Power of Our Lord,

His mercy only can Christ's blood afford.