• [CHRISTIA] new poetry, "Excuses and Abstractions

    From Mark@1:396/4 to Practical Christian Life on Sun Jun 14 12:57:45 2020
    From: lamppoet@CENTURYTEL.NET (Mark)

    A bit of a contemporary riff.



    "Excuses and Abstractions"



    ("David said to the Lord, "I have sinned greatly by doing this! Now, O Lord, please remove the guilt of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.'"
    2 Samuel 24:10b)



    Call me foolish; but not like David. I have forgotten the numbers
    and so, for now, write unabated.



    The ink has not dried; the smoke still circles
    the inkwell where the last shootout transpired.
    We hoped emerging sounds, cries of the stricken,
    prayers of the dying and pistols whipping up the air
    like last year's carousels would



    Once



    And over



    Wake the lazy thinker snoozing in the clover
    and turn his mask around to see, eyes properly adjusted,
    that freedom is busted when everyone locks their doors and
    electrifies their opinions. Let us be clear, the numbers are stronger
    than Saturn's rings; the answer clearer than Dylan sings:



    The excuses were buried in the mud and come up
    when the tide rises. Now Abel's blood recites the latest
    chorus to add the next verse to the blindman's dirge.



    We could offer freedom, if we were free;
    we could save the water, if we would see
    the blood on the streets, the blood upon the walls,
    the blood upon the white tees, the blood upon the laws
    and order, the hoarders and the spenders; if the next time



    We see the menders binding wounds, owning slurs,
    and spending dimes on candles to guide surgeon's
    hands; all
    we ask, all we seek, today, this minute, not tomorrow and
    next week;



    Black Lives Matter (how many eyes does it
    take to be opened, before we despise our own jealousies).








    I am far too quiet, too far removed. I will not count
    the numbers, fear the decaffeinated mood of anyone
    (thus far in this bit of writing I'd say)
    I will not steer clear of mental paradoxes used by
    proper instructor meant to
    steal younger minds from thinking if



    Jesus appreciates our excuses and abstractions
    to miss the opportunity in

    The middle of the road.





    Missing,
    mark p.

    lamppoet@centurytel.net



    Mark's Blog

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