Blessedness of the Man, unto Whom God Imputeth Righteousness Without Works

Run my faith as credit, Lord,
 for my workmen's wages cannot
pay the cost of Calvary.

Who Wouldn't Go (Up on the Housetop)

Like a thief in the night, o Lord, descend,

down through the chimney with lots of toys

with a click and a trump and a ho, ho, ho!

Then, o Lord, what Christmas joys--

all of creation like a stocking filled

(oh, just see what a glorious fill!)

with new heav'n and earth,

with gold and pearl and precious stone.

Thy kingdom come, o Lord,

wrapped in ribbon, swaddling cloths--

all for the little ones: Christmas joys.

Lord, Behold, He Whom Thou Lovest Is Sick

Jesus wept for Lazarus,
but was it for the death of flesh
or for the death of soul--
a life mock-resurrected
symbolizing realities yet unripe,
the grapevine grafted over and again
until the end of the age?

And did the Father weep
when He conceived you, Christ,
knowing of the sin
that we would yet conceive?
Did it break His heart
to break Your flesh
with all the wrath stored up
for someone else? For Lazarus?
Mary? Martha? Me?

O Prince, you prayed
that cup of wrath be poured
on other ground, weeping
for Yourself, perhaps, or
maybe for the man whose
lips would drain that cup.

Lord, whether weeping over
Judas, me or Lazarus,
pray us all, forgive me, Father,
for we know not what we do.

The Fall of Man

In amber light the orchard shone:
there in its core one tree alone
with fruit so plump, so ripe, so thick.
I stretched my hand, in secret picked
one juicy pearl and took a bite—
but as I ate that oyster's orb
my mind grew pale; my heart grew cold.
My pulse soon quickened with the fright
of guilt and knowing everything
of stealing, killing, death and sin.

That God Was in Christ, Reconciling the World unto Himself

Green leaves--coccooned in scarlet, orange and amber--
metamorph, burst forth and flit about like butterflies,
brittle wings lilting on the breeze--whirling--twirling into colony.

And on that breeze the heavens blow:
clouds, like heaving bosoms, holding back
the tears of all creation groans,

for as that monarch-multitude is driven into wilderness
by the approaching winter's bondage to decay,
so we too wander--leaf-like lilting into exile--

caught in the outer-darkness rain and snow,
gnashing teeth as we weeping die:
seed-like, dormant, awaiting 
new birth in the apocalypse of spring. 

Then Herod Sent Forth, and Slew All the Children That Were in Bethlehem; or, He Hadn't Stopped Christmas from Coming! It Came!

Herod listened like a Grinch,
his hand cupped to his ear,
for the voice of Rachel weeping
on the midnight clear.

Then sweetly singing o'er the plain
a sound grew, rising o'er the snow--
fahoo fores, dahoo dores,
in excelsis Deo!

I Am Crucified with Christ: Nonetheless I Live; Yet Not I

May this heart be the sepulchre
     wherein Jesus' body laid;
may its beating be the earthquake
     whenas the stone was rolled away.

That Which Is Done Is That Which Shall Be Done

“I find the human soul a coelacanth,”

the devil said before the Lord, 
“for they may call it by a different name,

yet their every sin comes out the same.”

In the Beginning Was the Word, and the Word Was with God, and the Word Was God

My tongue cannot shape the air with pow'r
that it does not quickly fade to vapor;
yet by Thy word, O Lord--
passive, spoken into void--
Thou hast made the heav'ns and earth.

Then be that void, o my soul!
Pass prayer and praise between these lips
until empty of all breath the Spirit
hovers o'er my darkness speaking,
Let there be, and, it was good.

Whereunto Shall I Liken the Kingdom of Heaven?

Christ, you hung like mistletoe,
and like a schoolgirl I do wait below
(cheek aflame and bosom trembling)
for Your heav'n to descend
(like lips)
upon me.

The Invisible Things of Him from the Creation of the World Are Clearly Seen

Lord, I thought I heard creation groan--
 the wind wailing through the trees,
 the waves weeping on the shore--
but, Lord, the wind was just a whisper
and the waves were just a murmur
 sharing secrets of your sovereignty--
 playing telephone with pagans.

For Now We See Through a Glass, Darkly

The mind sees but with bifocaled eye
(its apple rotting, worm infested)
now one part crisp--
the other brown.

Carve upon my heart,
O Lord,
thy law, thy gospel--
thy God-breathed eyechart--
that where I fail in sight
I cheat by faith.

But Every Man Is Tempted, When He Is Drawn Away of His Own Lust, and Enticed; or, You Are What You Eat

The serpent offered Eve a medlar--
that lone forbidden carcass-fruit--
for she thought
(like God)
that she might see a thing
and call it good.

For if Satan prowls,
then mankind slinks--
like a jackal through the wilderness
seeking leftover lion's carrion flesh
he may devour.

We Know That If Our Earthly House of This Tabernacle Were Dissolved, We Have a Building of God

O Lord, Your spirit fell settling as the seal, the pledge, and surety of Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. Your promises, We groan, O Lord, (longing, for new heav'n the casting off Walk my faith, O Lord, to Canaan's edge--

like quail and manna the dew-Christ rose-- for the milk-and-honey promise So give us this day our daily bread: Your providence. we rabble-rouse craving) and earth-- of mortal cloth. through wilderness Jerusalem.

I Came, I Psalm, I Conquered

O Lord, our Lord,
     O Lord, my God--
redundant King with name so worthy
     that your people praised it twice
with double couplets,
     double law,
     and with doubled double Gospel--
may your praises echo
     and your name resound.

The Mark of the Beast

A Song to the Lamb

Plant your flag,
o space cadet--
o wounded lamb--
on me like Marvin Martian.

And so, to him who sits upon the throne,
   and to Christ the Lamb,
Be worship and praise, dominion and splendor,
   in the twenty-fourth-and-one-half century,
   for ever and for evermore.

If Any Be a Hearer of the Word, and Not a Doer, He is Like unto a Man Beholding His Natural Face in a Glass

O Babylonian looking glass--
like Habakkuk I complain--

describe my face, that holiest holy,
 mouth, like Asaph, singing my own praise;
describe my brows, limned with pride,
 the ark of my own covenant;
describe my eyes, two tablets,
 a law inscribed by my own finger;

for spoiling and violence are before me.
O Lord,
how long shall I cry out?

This Is He That Came By Water and Blood; or, They Shall Look on Him Whom They Pierced

I make water;
You make wine--
I, man, vulgar;
You, divine.

You changed wine
in for water--
spilling both
in paschal slaughter.

Blessed Is He Whose Transgression Is Forgiven, Whose Sin Is Covered

Thou art my hiding place;
O God,
that I may place my sins
(like fingers)
in Your side.

Because That Every Man Heard Them Speak in His Own Tongue

Heaven is a tourist trap--
and Pentecost vacation--
for Jesus died for every soul
by his one oblation.

Ye Also, as Living Stones, Are Built up a Spiritual House

O, Christ--
thou cornerstone--
thou baseplate--
thou church's one foundation--
let's build something together.

I Am Cast out of Thy Sight; Yet I Will Look Again Toward Thy Holy Temple

O, wretched soul! O, mountain-heart!
Be thou cast into the sea--
there to be baptized
in the belly of the fish-provided.

Lord, that your grace 
may vomit me
and make me clean.

For, as Thou Urgest Justice, Be Assured Thou Shalt Have Justice (More Than Thou Desir'st)

My deeds upon my head!
O, Lord, I crave the law.
If every penny
in one-hundred pence
were in one-hundred parts,
and every part a penny--
I would have my bond.

Wring thus the beggar by the throat
as though it were a second Shylock saying:
Pay me that thou owest;
and lay thy bosom bare.
Pray, Our Father, 
please, forgive our debts,
for I stand here for law.

By Hearing Ye Shall Hear, and Shall Not Understand

Sound, thunder--
for the voice of God
strikes cloud-to-ground
through heaven's gate:

a bass-beriddled parable
heard (unheard)
by tone (not tenor)

What the Gift of Life Begins, the Gift of Grace Completes

Breathe in, o soul--
by Father, Son and Holy Ghost--
the breath of life/
the breath of God
(as of a rushing mighty wind)
deep into thy body nostril.

And as that breath blows where it list,
hear, o soul, the sound thereof--
a still small voice:
Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God.

But He Himself Shall Be Saved; yet so as by Fire

Flammable, straw-man out of Egypt, dredged Sin is crouching, The Kiln-Master to burn your soul-brick on Christ’s

shapeable— gathered clay-man from Jordan’s banks: death is waiting. is standing near or bake built foundation.

In Defense of Plagiarism

What is a thought but old breath held,
the written word but old breath gelled?
The oak grasps not at royalties
on new-breathed words writ on its leaves--
yet leaf we words with borrowed air
we'd ax the roots to grasp our share.

And, Behold, There Was a Great Earthquake: for the Angel of the Lord Descended from Heaven

Be ye not afraid, the angel said,
sword-tongue in cheek--
for why not tremble at the double edge?

The sword may doubly dub
or drub;
lift up your head
or lift it off.

So be ye Roman guard or woman weeping,
virgin mother, shepherd keeping,
bend your neck beneath the blade
and be ye not afraid.

Maundy

Paint Thy blood upon my doorjamb;
     wash Thy water o'er my feet.
Passover lamb--Thou Paschal lamb--
     pray I love as Thou love'st me.

Therefore the Lord Himself Shall Give You a Sign

On sylvan hills our gilded age

dies out in favor of the 1950s:

two-tone trees all white and

black as though the season caught

the moder-spirit-by-thine-advent-here—

Our Lord delivered on suburban lawn,

the Word became plastic and

made his dwelling among us.

But come, o come, Emmanuel—

to stable or suburban lawn, or

to the tune of trumpets blaring

through the rolled-back clouds.

Come, o come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive sylvan hills,
suburban lawn, and Israel.

Birds After Rain

The air smelled musty,
the birds went silent and
the sons of men made merry
while the waters rose upon the earth.

Then the rains did cease.
The flood receded. The sons of
Noah left their nest and
ate and drank and sang and chirped:
"For tomorrow we die,
to-morrow, and to-morrow,
and to-morrow."

Behold, Thy King Cometh Unto Thee: Lowly and Riding Upon an Ass

Hosanna, Christ!
that self-same ass,
triumphant, beaten,
bearing burden,
riding over pitfall paved 
by palm-branch blanket.

The Communion All the Sinners

Judas dipped his hand into the bowl,
eating bread he'd helped to break:
Your back-stabbed body broken
for him.

Lord, they took
(and ate)
Your body
on that Calv'ry hill,
praying between mouthfuls:
"Forgive us, Father, for we know not what we do."

O Sinners, Let's Go Down

Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub:
preacher, penitent, holy ghost.
The ghost cries Marco,
the penitent Polo,
and the preacher says Amen.

Ring-a-Ring-a-Rosy

They lifted prayers to Jesus Christ
(risen Lord from ashen brow)
that he might make them phoenix also,
burning in apocalypse that on the
third day they might rise again.

Palm Sunday

Christ marched in like a lion and out like a lamb,

     and He'll lay them twain together

     when he marches through again.

The Creature Itself Also Shall Be Delivered from the Bondage of Corruption

In early spring the sound
of raindrops syncopates
the canticle of cardinal's cry,
the psalmnody of sparrow's song.

All of creations waits
and groans
and chirps, o Lord,
the advent of thy glory here.

Messy, Messy, Messy

Near the cross was Mary weeping,
Karen weeping:
the blood and water puddling out
like a snowman melting
on the greenhouse floor.

But Jesus turning unto them,
waved goodbye, saying,
"Don't you cry.
I'll be back again someday."

O Ye Dry Bones, Hear the Word of the Lord

O Lord my God, You grafted me
(like stitched-together daemon flesh)
onto Your body-branch, Your franken-vine.

Lo, behold the New Jerusalem:
it's alive.
It's alive!

Two Hymns Plagiarized with an Emphasis on Mass Infanticide; or, Incarnation is a Risky Business

I.
   O little town of Bethlehem,
   how still we see thee lie!
   Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
   the silent stars go by.
II.
   Silent night, holy night,
   all is calm, all is bright.
   Round yon Virgin Mother and Child,
   Holy Infant so tender and mild,
   sleep in heavenly peace.
   Sleep in heavenly peace.