“Let the house of Israel know!” He cried, and cut them to the heart Who, guilt of Adam in their bones, Had hammered in the nails. “What should we do?” they cried in fear, Seeing their hands at the cross, Their sins like thieves at Jesus’ side, Their voices raised to crucify. “Repent,”Continue reading “Repentance (Tuesday in Easter Week)”
Category Archives: The Swelling Year
Resurrection Virelai (Monday in Easter Week)
See Him arise Much brighter than the skies Victory in the eyes Of great David’s greater Son… He breaks the stones of lies, Unties The shackles we put on; Dark Hades He defies, Decries The plots of the shame-faced ones. Before their eyes He takes His rightful prize, Swift, majestic, like the sun. Continue reading “Resurrection Virelai (Monday in Easter Week)”
The Slow Dawning Part 4: The Emmaus Walk (Easter Day)
Day ending, night on its way, they walk, Hearts thick with the talk of the days before, Of expectation reversed and destroyed, Disappointment turned to confusion, To rumours and gossip of empty tombs. A stranger walks beside them, asking for news. Yet he knows the story from its genesis And shows them snakes crushedContinue reading “The Slow Dawning Part 4: The Emmaus Walk (Easter Day)”
The Slow Dawning Part 3: The Empty Tomb (Easter Day)
Eyes cannot trust what they see, for here He sees the place where the body lay, Sees the cloths that should have bound him, Sees the certainty of light and sees the day, Yet sees no body trapped within this tomb. Run home, for this makes no sense. It stands Against all that youContinue reading “The Slow Dawning Part 3: The Empty Tomb (Easter Day)”
The Slow Dawning Part 2: The Gardener (Easter Day)
Outside weeping, for this makes no sense, Dawn slowly clawing its way out of the sky, Mary’s name dropping from the stranger’s lips, Mary’s eyes blinking open at the sound, While Peter, in the background, runs home, confused. Rabbouni! The disciple’s earnest, light-bulb cry, Arms wrapped around the one who had been lost; TheContinue reading “The Slow Dawning Part 2: The Gardener (Easter Day)”
The Slow Dawning Part 1: Linen Cloths (Easter Day)
They lie bedraggled in the tomb, alone, The one the women seek not here to find, Bandages of death with no-one to bind, No sting of death left for them to contain And the spices that they brought no more of use, Only two men outside in fiery white And a surging in Mary’sContinue reading “The Slow Dawning Part 1: Linen Cloths (Easter Day)”
Nine Quatrains (Easter Vigil)
I. And so, the domes and waters in their place, He made His image-bearers shine His face. He looked on them and called them very good Who only trusted what they understood. II. The domes thrown into disarray to flood The earth and turn the man of dust to mud. Yet one remains toContinue reading “Nine Quatrains (Easter Vigil)”
The Second Day (Holy Saturday)
Probably the first “liturgical” poem that I wrote was on Easter Saturday about six years ago. I had recently read Bruce Dawe’s marvellous “And a Good Friday was had by all” and, having been struck by the immediacy of his language and the power of his imagery, I felt moved to write something similar. IContinue reading “The Second Day (Holy Saturday)”
The Slowing Year (For John Keble)
My year-long poetry project, “The Swelling Year”, is drawing to a close and will finish shortly after the Easter period ends. Today’s poem signals something of a milestone in the project: the last of the “feast days” for significant Christians remembered in the Anglican calendar. Somewhat appropriately, this poem remembers John Keble, a man whoseContinue reading “The Slowing Year (For John Keble)”
The Soul’s Travail (Good Friday)
After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:11) High and lifted up Astonishing the faithless many Kings with mouths agape yet shut And hearts with closed fists Lifted high aboveContinue reading “The Soul’s Travail (Good Friday)”
The Consolations of Writing 