Category Archives: poems

of course it makes no sense at all

we try our best to talk about it as if it does
but we know good and well as we hear the words
falling from our mouths
or dancing in our brains
that of course it makes no sense at all

of course the weak lose to the strong
of course the meek lose to the proud
of course the poor answer to the rich
of course the cheerful are better off than the tearful
of course the peaceful lose to the first to strike

and even when the story ends
and someone closes the book
all seems clear still,
and we feel a rumble
like a kind of existential indigestion
that maybe we should have fought stronger
maybe we should have been a little prouder
maybe we should have tried to get a little richer
maybe we should have acted a little more cheerful
maybe we should have preempted with the first blow

but then comes the morning
and the upside down comes right side up
and the clear and obvious become dark and murky
and we see a new order of things

but only once in a while
for now
do we get a sight of the downside up world
and so we clinch it as tightly as we possibly can
and hope that when we need to remember
we can trust that while of course it makes no sense at all
one day all makes sense, of course.

we are a people waiting for it all to make sense.

djordan
Pine Tree

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reminder of a better way

 

We are a people of privilege and entitlement.
We are among the haves––
we have education,
connections,
power,
and wealth.
Too often we are indulgent and self-sufficient consumers.
We speak of our achievements and accomplishments.
Sometimes we offer God liturgies of disregard,
litanies of selves made too big.
But we hear faint reminders of
a better way.

+ W. Brueggeman, “Well Arranged Lives”
from Prayers for a Privileged People

 

MORE FROM BRUEGGEMAN
In remembering and in hoping
Catch us up into reality
on most days, a hard mix

 

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our stories are close together

 

The stories are always close together;
Whether banked on the west coast looking out over the Pacific
or banked on another west coast looking out over the Atlantic.

Stories of trial and error
hope and defeat
attempt and confusion
love and war
peacemaking and peacekilling
connectedness and isolation
restful work and work gin rest
redemption and destruction

an undercurrent of longing
that someone else
on one coast or another
resonates with the stories we keep
shackled behind our eyes––

stories remarkably close together––
even with miles of history or miles of dirt between.
but we keep them to ourselves
because our story, we’ve been told,
is the only one that looks this way.

and so we imagine the space between our stories
that was never there to begin with.

Our stories are always close together.

djordan
Napa Valley

 

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half ready. half afraid.

We watch as the jets fly in with the power people and the money people, the suits, the budgets, the billions.

We wonder about monetary policy because we are among the haves, and about generosity because we care about the have-nots.

By slower modes we notice Lazarus and the poor arriving from Africa, and the beggars from Central Europe, and the throng of environmentalists with their vision of butterflies and oil of flowers and tanks of growing things and killing fields.

We wonder about peace and war, about ecology and development, about hope and entitlement.

We listen beyond jeering protesters and soaring jets and faintly we hear the mumbling of the crucified one, something about feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty, about clothing the naked, and noticing the prisoners, more about the least and about holiness among them.

We are moved by the mumbles of the gospel, even while we are tenured in our privilege.

We are half ready to join the choir of hope, half afraid things might change, and in a third half of our faith turning to you, and your outpouring love that works justice and that binds us each and all to one another.

So we pray amid jeering protesters and soaring jets. Come by here and make new, even at risk to our entitlements.

+ Walter Brueggeman, “The Noise of Politics”
from Prayers for a Privileged People 

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at a high top table under low light

corny jokes to the server
hospitable laughs in return
at a high top table under low light
clinking glasses and eating crumbs
conversation about
faith
fury
family
funnies
fortitude
fears
watches watched, but only barely
because it’s only a monday evening
realization that what we
beg for
clamor for
whine for
fight for
pay for
sing for
hope for
long for
is waiting for us on Monday evenings
at a high top table under low light
clinking glasses and eating crumbs.

And is waiting on Tuesday mornings.

djordan
Pine Tree

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compared with the task | on luke 4

the sharp contrast of common ambition
compared with the task of announcing the kingdom:

I’ll give you a feast;
I’m here to tell the poor their day has come.
I’ll give you authority and prestige and power;
I’m here to talk about letting the jailbirds loose.
I’ll prove you can do whatever you want and still be safe;
I’m here to announce the time has come
for those on the bottom,
for those who are poor,
for those who are blind,
for those who have been victimized,
for those who have victimized,
it is the time for God to make them his favorites.

The sharp contrast of common intention
compared with the task of announcing the kingdom:

he rolled the scroll back up and sat down.
“Today, you are watching it happen…”

djordan
Pine Tree

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in the middle of a meeting

we often find ourselves in meetings
sitting around tables
clicking keys on laptops
and scribbles of doodle and words soon forgotten
written on pads and scraps and notebooks
we find ourselves in meetings all the time

and we love our work
and we are used to being tired
and we are used to being grateful
and we are used to working hard
and we are used to hoping our hard work is a part
of something that looks like the kingdom in our midst

and we are used to sitting in meetings
sitting around tables
trying to plan and execute.

What we are not used to, though
is the every now and then meeting that leaves
our hearts thumping louder than the keys,
scribbles and doodles and imagination racing
through our minds too fast to come out of our mouths
we are not used to these kinds of meetings
even though they happen all the time

with new partners and new friends
with new dreams and new imaginations
with new needs and new visions
with new prayers and new hopes

where we realize, for those brief moments,
the rules have changed
the ideals have changed
the agenda has changed
the reason has changed
the meaning has changed
the implications have changed

the group of women and men sitting around the table realize
together
that something from another realm is happening
smack dab in the middle of a meeting with
clicking keys
scribbles
doodles
pads
notebooks
and ourselves.

the kind of meetings we often find ourselves in.
And so smack dab in the middle of a meeting
we give thanks.

djordan
S Church Street

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thin of a second

it’s sometimes in the thin of second
you get a breath
a shove of breath into your gut
up into your head

it clears your mind for
only the thin of a second

and all is well
and you see the world as if through a glass clearly

then it’s gone.
but the second itself, the thin of it,
changes everything.

and your lungs take a bit deeper of a breath
and your head lightens briefly
lightens in weight and in brightness

and all will be well.

djordan
Pine Tree

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monday mornings are the clearest view

Monday mornings are the clearest view

of the sharp contrast in which

we live and breathe:

the ideals of the weekend

Saturday and its rest

Sunday and its ethereal musings.

And then Monday morning;

push comes to shove

injustice comes to work

greed comes to pocketbooks

arrogance comes to interactions

distraction comes to dinner tables.

And instead of pushing to bring

the truth of the weekend into play on Monday morning,

we are tempted to

wait for the weekend

and curse the week.

But the week waits desperately.

djordan
Pine Tree

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