Continuing Poetry from Cookout in the Courtyard
We
opened then with a haiku about lights at dusk. Now from Liz Massey of St. Mark’s, New Canaan, we have
critters, (black and white with tail raised? read on!) playing in the woods and on the road also at
dusk. With the second poem, Liz
accepted the invitation to write poems in accordance with daily themes of
General Convention 2015. Her
hourglass shaped poem on the theme of Praise was read, excerpted, during the
liturgy on the second day of General Convention.
VOYAGERS
by Elizabeth T. Massey
St. Mark’s, New Canaan, CT
dusk draws out night wanderers
shadows on the black road’s meanders
between darker ash foreboding sight
midsummer eve plays out late
tag and hide-and-seek for adolescent
foragers in the woods
headlights glaze their eyes
spotlight their white capes
their ebony bodies merged
what do they know of danger
that noisy beast bearing
down fast rattling them
one raised tail signs scatter
they scramble tumble bump
new taste fear of the unknown
the beast stops confused five
innocents running this way and that
the heart within the beast heaves
loves sheer loveliness asks
bright stars crescent moon to caress
blessed union one with the other
beast and babies move apart
depart safe homes draw
to other conjunctions
PRAISE
THE COSMIC
HOURGLASS
Homage to George Herbert
When God Creator in loving word and
deed rendered planet earth
He packed it full of sky, leaping
crags, green hills, and sea
With two joyous humans adding notes
of mirth
Until a heart-deep sadness came to
be
By dint of sin, and thereby dearth
For you, my dear, and me
Of selfless love.
Instead, death
The braided funeral laurel wreath
No longer sail of angels’ wings to
hove
Our frail craft safe to shore, but
dark-eyed stealth
Tracking us error by error away from
heaven’s starry trove.
Then - in time - the son descended
to the world’s morass
To bring a message full of lasting
hope and cheer,
Birthed by Abba and Mary (full of
class)
With stalwart Joseph standing near,
A youth who would surpass
All other boys down here.
Jesus at last
He did become
The throat of the hourglass
That spins encompassing the sun
The moons, the comets, the galaxies en
masse
That sends new-born souls down and
draws back ones
Abba and the Spirit inspire to
navigate life’s shoals and into heaven pass.
Elizabeth T. Massey
St. Mark’s Church, New Canaan CT
Poem read during Prayers of the
People at Eucharist, General Convention, Day 2, 2015.
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