Thursday, August 18, 2016

Jael

Hold it steady in your hand
and with the hammer drive it deep.
Your arms are thick from setting and striking 
as you move from place to place. 
The world gives little choice. 
Your life was set at birth:
who you marry and how you live.
The power you have was not given. 
You built it by driving pegs 
each day of your life. Then this pig 
shows up with his imperial demands, 
ignores the rites of guest and host 
for after all, you’re not a man. 
So you wait; he falls asleep.

Hold it steady, drive it deep.

̶  November 23, 2012

(c) Darryl Willis


Jael

Hold it steady in your hand
and with the hammer drive it deep.
Your arms are thick from setting and striking 
as you move from place to place. 
The world gives little choice. 
Your life was set at birth:
who you marry and how you live.
The power you have was not given. 
You built it by driving pegs 
each day of your life. Then this pig 
shows up with his imperial demands, 
ignores the rites of guest and host 
for after all, you’re not a man. 
So you wait; he falls asleep.

Hold it steady, drive it deep.

̶  November 23, 2012

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Kenosis

for Kelly
Philippians 2:5-11


There is an empty cup once full
poured out into the living hearts
of those you served. If you heard
this said of you, your face would flush
from neck to ears (you know it’s true)
accompanied by an “aw-shucks” grin.

The good die young and old and in between
and all too soon, it seems. And a life
heaven-bound fails to mitigate
grief and pain: tears can wash but not
erase, never erase. Deny the pain
denies the life, denies the love.

A life well-lived deserves to be well-mourned.
The deeper the love, the deeper the scar that binds
the broken heart. And as grief pours down
to re-baptize the wounded lives, an empty
cup once full remains to store the tears.