Poetry Where You Live Poetry and photo site with over 1,650 poems and 660 pictures, along with many links. At least 500 of my poems are faith based. Member of United Methodist Church. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 23 2165

Articles from Poetry Where You Live

Uncomfortable Imagery 2007-12-10 11:50:00 The pastor knitted imagerythat didn’t go quite togetherthat were a bit incongruous, a bit distinctimages of the word, “uncomfortable”of Scrooge, of the Grinch, a marriagein trouble, a depressed elder,waiting for death, alone,feeling unworthy of Communion,lamenting the ills of this world,this time and placeMusing on the image of Johnstanding hot and dirtyin the dirty water, in camel hair,cinched tight to his body,eating locust, uncomfortable purityPreaching an uncomfortable wordin the hot desert, the wildernessfulfilling the prophecy for his own lifethe prophecy of the comingof the child to ministry, to kingship,of a very different kindFinding hope, repentance, saving,baptism, not so much in the dirty water itselfbut in the place, the Jordan,finding hope too in the frank wordsthe honesty of the man in the nursing homethe hope in the name of Scrooge, Ebenezer,the stone that Samuel placedin God’s provision, His saving of the peoplelong before even Isaiah’s prophecyHope for a dif ...

Let this be the Peaceable Kingdom 2007-12-09 20:47:00 The predator will lie down with the preyall will eat the grass, all will be at peaceso the words of the prophet foretell a timewhen the worries of the world will fade to nothingnesswhen we will all live together harmoniouslywith Jesse’s shoot, up from the cut stumpwill reign forevermoreLet this be the peaceable kingdom now, Oh Lord,May we be the generation where peace shall reignand justice will come to this troubled earthMay we be the people who will bendthe spears into pruning hooksWhere war will be known no moreHelp us Lord we praythat the madness would ceasethat the killing would endthat the violence, the maimingwould stopDecember 9, 2007Isaiah 11:1-10 ...

Go to the Stable 2007-12-09 20:37:00 We, like the shepherds, the wise men,the father and mother, go to the stableeach year, at this time, to be remindedto journey with them to be counted,to await the Messiah’s birth, to feel himwith us again, more real in the moment,this time of year, feeling the saviorcoming into the world, as a childHis baptism, in the Jordan, that waterso rich in meaning, the exodusfrom slavery to EgyptHe now separating us from sinThe short walk to his ministry,his teachings, his life as examplefor us all. His martyrdom, deathon the tree. Buried. To rise again.But it is the stable, the manger,where God came among uswhere we kneel down,and see Godas a baby, preciousand vulnerablethe shoot out of Jesse’s rootthe fulfillment of the law and the prophetsthe Word made fleshGod with usEmmanuelborn in a manger bedGo to the stableDecember 9, 2007 ...

Come to the Stable 2007-12-09 20:19:00 Come to the stable you pilgrimsyou believers, needing to be rebornneeding to be affirmed in your faithneeding this advent season, needingdesperately, to be in the spiritwithin the stable, standing, kneeling bythe baby’s bed, the baby’s manger bedlook into his face, the face of his parentssee the truth of his life, his call, his fulfillmentHe is the one they had hoped for, for centurieswaiting for the stump, the stump of Jesseto bear a son, a shoot, a new branchready to take the mantle of Davidto rise to lead his people, to set his people freeto seal the breach so long ago, mend the bondprovide a path, a way, to reconciliationwith the father, to be the onewho would create heaven on earthWe wait too, again, for the child in the mangerand the king to descend from heavenand bring us homeDecember 9, 2007 ...

Life in the Shoot 2007-12-09 20:03:00 There was life in the shootthe shoot of Jessegrowing up out of the rootthe child, the Sonwas born, we were rebornwhen the shoot of Jessefulfilled the promisethe promise of Godtold to the prophet Isaiahfulfilling the hopes of the nationthe people of the Bookthe covenant people,children of AbrahamThere is life in the shootlife for each of usin the companythe relationshipwith our brotherliving out the dreamthe trust in the coming of Godonce againthe ultimate comingof the kingdom of GodDecember 9, 2007Isaiah 11:1-10 ...

A Dormant Stump 2007-12-09 13:15:00 for generations, for centuriesthe stump lay dormantseemingly deadto outside observersBut God's promiseto Isaiah, to Israelwas living stillin the stump of Jessewaiting to sproutto grow, fulfillpromises of oldto heal the peopleto bring hopeand everlasting peaceDecember 9, 2007Isaiah 11:1-10 ...

Advent 2007-12-08 16:36:00 A season of waiting, of preparation for the baby boyDeity brought to a manger bedVoices of angels filled the heavensEvery room was taken, no place for a bedNativity of the king of kingsThree wise men would come, at EpiphanyDecember 8, 2007 ...

In the Northern Wood 2007-12-08 16:31:00 Camera and snowshoes,head down, focused on the little things,the tracks in the layered crust of snow,ice and snow reallythe tunnels of the voles,the turned shape of the dead leaves,clinging still to the branches, the twigsThe subtle sound of the treescaressing each other, high in the canopya dance called by the windA distinctive crack of gunfire,echoing in the still cold forestAnd me, out in the northern woodwithout any blaze orangeDecember 7, 2007 ...

Changing the Wind 2007-12-08 16:24:00 A groundswell of justice, of caringcomes from changing the windsgiving new direction for the weathervanespoliticians with their wet fingers up in the aircatching the wind and where it pointsaltering the compass heading, the pole, the goalby changing the windDecember 7, 2007Based on the comments of Jim Wallis onSpeaking of Faith, November 29, 2007http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/jimwallis/index.shtmlHe was talking about whether to change politiciansor change the wind, to change the public opinionwhich guides politics. He used the example of President Johnson’sstatement to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that it wouldtake 5 years for a voting rights bill but it actually took 5 monthsto pass the Voting Rights Act, after the March in Selma. ...

Out Burns’ Window 2007-12-08 15:53:00 Back in Jessie’s forefather’s landin the cottage where Burns was bornthe places where Tam livedwhere his words were conjuredand the yarns were spunlooking out Burns’ windowonto his world, preservedDecember 7, 2007 ...

Irregular Glass 2007-12-08 15:49:00 Staring at the glassthe panes in the framebubbles and wavesthinning viscous skinof irregular glassbeautiful in its imperfectionDecember 7, 2007 ...

Tallows of Ice 2007-12-08 15:43:00 layer on layerthe branches lappedin the slack waterdipped by the wind’s handby the banktallows of icehanging in the streamframed by the snowall aroundDecember 7, 2007 ...

Our Cup 2007-12-08 15:37:00 “Take this cup, Oh Father”were the words of the son,the beloved, the holy childgrown to be the sacrifice, the firstborn son,unspared, unlike Isaacto be the sacrificial lambChoosing to drink of the cupto take on the blood, the sin of the worldTo love his enemies, even on the crossWe share the cup,when we accept his salvationand put on his yoke,pair with him, to do the Father’s willDecember 7, 2007 ...

Peripheral Poetry 2007-12-08 15:33:00 Out the side, the edge of my visionso are many of the sources of my poetrythe images out my windowhurtling by for an instant, maybeseeing them, clearly, etchedknowing now howseeing the texture, the purpose,purity, crystallized momentsimages frozen in my wordsDecember 7, 2007 ...

Snow 2007-12-08 15:26:00 Layered frostingthick heavy butter creamhanging heavy on the needlesthe limbs coated in whitea mix of marshmallowand plaster of paristexture applied thicklyto the pines, the oaksthe wood, the fieldsDecember 7, 2007 ...