Posts Tagged ‘Poetry’
“Obedience”, by Sietze Buning (a pseudonym used by Stanley Wiersma, late professor of English at Calvin College):
Were my parents right or wrong
not to mow the ripe oats that Sunday morning
with the rainstorm threatening?
I reminded them that the Sabbath was made for man
and of the ox fallen into the pit.
Without an oats crop, I argued,
the cattle [...]
I think it will survive—the tomato plant on
our neighbors’ porch. The wind, the other day,
pushed through our valley in mighty gusts,
forcing over trees and fences, and devastating
the work of the children of man.
Our neighbors’ porch (they were out of town)
received a burst of it, shredding their cabana’s soft roof to ribbons,
and knocking over that tomato [...]
I keep them all in a little black book now,
where I write them down, when I see or I hear them;
before, before I knew Truth,
they came in, settled in, lived, multiplied their bastard children;
swept out the attic, unpacked, and, perhaps, scrambled some
fresh farm eggs for breakfast.
Like a stray cat, that simply joins the household,
they ingrained [...]
I have three short and unrelated things I want to point out today.
1. Timmy Brister notes that the local church needs to be the priority in today’s “Reformed, celebrity conference culture.” True that. A couple of months ago Laura and I were eating dinner at a Chicago airport and talking about our future in ministry. [...]
Barnabas’ Lament
on the parting with Paul over John-Mark.
O Paul! Paul, my dearest friend!
Do you remember?
How on that dusty road, the Christ,
Arisen, came to you in glory?
And you were saved and changed,
And made a cup to be poured out,
A drink offering.
Do you remember, after;
You preached courageous and true,
In the city you’d intended to persecute?
And I believed!
I [...]
At my small private elementary school they opened a “store” at Christmas-time. That way, we kids could buy gifts for our parents (with their own money of course) and surprise them with things like an all-in-one adjustable screwdriver or a travel sewing kit. One year, I picked out for my dad an adjustable mini-hacksaw, thinking, [...]
My dad had never used that spoon before–
it had a hole centered in its wooden bowl.
My sister had done something wrong. “Now you’re
going to get a spanking, sweetie, though
it hurts me more than you.” So to her bare
rear end he slapped that shallow spoon; it snapped
with stinging force — she screamed and where
it struck [...]
- If you like the post(s) to the left, you should SUBSCRIBE. (To subscribe in a reader, click the "readers" box. To subscribe by email, click the "subscribe by email" link below).
Subscribe to Almanac of Captivity by Email -
The Buzz...
