The necessary death

After Luke 23:32-49 

It had to be, this death,

mandated by heaven.

The innocent nailed

to the tree, placed

between thieves,

listens to them

mocking, gambling

for his clothes,

the elites ridiculing

him, telling him

to save himself,

the soldiers mocking,

telling him to save

himself, and the thief,

mocking, telling him

to save himself, only 

the remaining thief

understanding the death

was necessary, asking 

to be remembered.

 

The darkness comes

like a wrathful storm. 

The curtain rips, a sign

of departure, He speaks

his last, commending

himself into his father’s

hands. And it is done.

It is finished.

It is accomplished,

this necessary death.

 

Photograph by Joshua Fuller via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Living to the law

After Romans 7:1-6

Living to the law

is abiding in death,

for the way of the law

is the way of death,

the path to oblivion.

The law brings knowledge,

like the bite of the apple, and

it brings passions, and

passions take control and

command us to death.

Released from the law,

our chains broken and

cast aside, we walk in

a new way, the new way

of that Holy Wind.

Who knew?

Photograph by George Hodan via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

The law of death

After Romans 7:1-6

We chafe at is restrictions,

its do’s and don’ts, this thing

we call the law. We are 

free of the law only when

we die, breaking free from

the chains of rules and

statutes and amendments

and codes.

And so

when we die to death,

when a new birth lifts us

above the law, the way

of death, no longer are we

creatures of the law but

creatures of love,

belonging to each other,

belonging to the one

who died and

lives again.

Photograph by Kai Stachowiak via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

The choice of slavery

After Romans 6:15-23

What you follow, who

you follow, becomes

your master, and you

their slave. It is

a choice: you choose

to obey sin, with

its death knell, or

you choose to follow

obedience, with its

sing of life.

You have chosen life,

you are set free from

death, you are now

slaves to life.

Photograph by Zulmaury Saavedra via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Contradiction

After Romans 6:1-14

Dead to one thing,

live to its opposite,

how can both happen

simultaneously?

Short answer:

They can’t.

Which suggests

the contradiction

exists in our minds,

in our behaviors,

because we still

confront the one thing

while living the other.

Sin’s a powerful

thing.

Photograph by Pawel Czerwinski via Unsplash, Used with permission.

The beginning and end of death

After I Corinthians 15:3-6, 20-26

Our death began with a man,

an Adam, the sin encoded

into our cells, our DNA, our brains

and hearts, it began with a man

the dead are now raised

through a man, breaking through

our cells, our DNA, our brains

and hearts, death ending with a man

a man who used his death

to take our sin, our death

away, triumph over death,

vanquishing death, in three days

three days to destroy death

three days to raise to life

three days to establish the kingdom

three days, only three days

it was sufficient and

it was good

Photograph by Russ Baum via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Poets and Poems: Clive James and “Injury Time”

Clive James (born 1939) found himself in something of an embarrassing predicament. He was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2010. After various prognoses, the doctors said he wouldn’t live past 2015. He wrote a poem for The New Yorker that predicted his death. He anticipated, and he prepared, as well as anyone might. He wrote a book of poetry about his imminent death, entitled Sentenced to Life.

And then he lived. The disease has affected him, but he continues to live. So, he wrote another book of poetry, Injury Time, comprised of 48 poems than range from thoughts of death to family, home, and even the French singer Edith Piaf (1915-1963).

The poems of Injury Time fall into the New Formalism poetry style. Among other things, that mean they rhyme and have a certain cadence and rhythm. James even capitalizes the first word of each line. But beyond the particular style, using a New Formalist writing style adds a certain dignity to the poems, a gravitas that is absent from free verse and other forms.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.