Sunday, September 4, 2011

Fragments of a Sunday


Grace

Grace: someone hands
you an ice-cold bottle
of water on a hot day;
you welcome the wetness
on your hand.

Flowers

Man’s purpose for flowers:
love, weddings, funerals.
God’s purpose for flowers:
a fleeting mirror of beauty.

Surrender

The word surrender
does not appear
in the Bible. Not once.

My father

My father spoke Scripture
his entire life; I never knew
it until I was old.
Neither did he.

Branded simplicity

I’m a simple man,
I told my wife,
with plain tastes.
I like Vanilla Wafers
and graham crackers.
Oreos are a bit rich.

Temptation

Temptation
is the desire
to control.

The Apostles and me

I know me well
enough to say
that I would have
been run over by
the freight train
named Paul,
perplexed by
the chameleon
named Peter,
and assumed
I was going with
John to Patmos
without being
asked.

Communion I

Take, eat: the bread
is his body, nourishing
ours. Take, drink:
the wine is his blood,
giving life, breathing
life into ours.

Communion II

To understand the beauty
of communion is to be
overwhelmed, flattened,
prostrated with love.

True story

I met Pete Maravich
once; standing in line
at McDonald’s I turned,
and he was right behind.
Actually, I met his waist.

Pain

Pain slows life:
everything must be
planned, each step
carefully considered.
Nothing is
spontaneous.

The onion

We argued; you
threw a half-peeled
onion but it missed.
We pretended
the onion caused
the tears. Maybe
it did.

If you'd like to hear me read "Fragments of a Sunday:"


Audio Recording on Sunday afternoon by Glynn2
Photograph: Rocky Heart by Vera Kratochvil via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

15 comments:

Maureen said...

I enjoyed all of these! ("The Onion" and "My Father" though, may be my favorites.) They present your sides of humor, understanding, self-awareness, and especially grace.

And thank you for recording the fragments, too.

Megan Willome said...

I think I just got a sermon in "Temptation" and "Surrender." Excellent!

ayala said...

I enjoyed all of these...great :)

Anonymous said...

i listened while following the words with my eyes.
you have a wonderful reading voice.
and i enjoyed each and every fragment.

i ended up making a blogspot blog just for voice recording and will add a link from there to my monday post (tomorrow) on my main blog.

i think i will present the poetry reading post every monday. i hope you will want to add a link to one of your poetry readings.

nitewrit said...

Glynn,

I though that was beautiful, both to see and to hear, and to think about.

Larry

Deidra said...

Glynn-

Oh my. This is wonderful. The poetry is stunning. It made me cry - and it wasn't the onion. :) Hearing your voice makes me want to sit across from you at a big wooden table in a light-filled dining room and share a bit of Guinness pie, and a plain vanilla wafer for dessert.

Anonymous said...

Glynn --

I enjoyed these SO much. Hearing your voice elicited a different response out of me than just reading your poetry. When I read it, I imagine myself as the narrator. When I hear it, I imagine you. Thanks for these!

Brian Miller said...

glynn, loved your voice and all that you packed in your words today...keep it simple...i do like oreos though...smiles.

Anonymous said...

Glynn, your voice adds so much. You take well to poetry-reading, my friend!

So many gems in here.

L.L. Barkat said...

The Onion. Now that's wonderful. So.

Beth said...

I enjoyed the steady calmness of your voice--created serenity.
My favorite is pain because of my chronic illness. Second favorite is grace.
Loved them all though. :>)

Lorrie said...

Great to hear your voice reading this... you're good!

Jennifer @ JenniferDukesLee.com said...

OK, now, that onion got me, Glynn.

So, so good hearing your voice again.

Marcus Goodyear said...

The Apostles, My Father,and The Onion. But especially the Apostles. I love the idea of presuming to be banished and enslaved with John.

I'm the guy that would desperately want to presume.

Kelly Sauer said...

"Surrender

The word surrender
does not appear
in the Bible. Not once."

THIS!!! I've thought this for years!!

Great thoughts, Glynn. I love this post. Reminds me a little of Marcus's Barbies.