Absolution
"Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace!" (Thesis #92, from Martin Luther's 95 Theses, posted on the door of the castle church of Wittenberg in 1517)
I.
Away, then, with all those prophets
who decry global warming before
getting into their Hummers.
Away with the parents who say no
but who know not how to mean it.
Away with leaders who mistake
obstinacy for resolve.
II.
Martin Luther imagined
his theses to be corrective.
He hoped he might bring the church
back to where it ought to be, to its roots,
and instead, he and his followers
broke it wide open and propelled it
into some entirely new world.
III.
What would absolution look like,
in these days of hunger, rising fever,
war without end, and children
who have never climbed a tree?
To whom do we look, as we
tack our posts up on these tiny doors?
We have what Martin fought for; now what?
(Getting a bit of a slow start, and cheating through back-dating,
but hoping to participate in National Poetry Writing Month.
A poem a day for all of April?! Worth a try!
Thanks to the women of Poetry Thursday
for their continuing encouragement.)
but hoping to participate in National Poetry Writing Month.
A poem a day for all of April?! Worth a try!
Thanks to the women of Poetry Thursday
for their continuing encouragement.)
1 comment:
There is a lot to think about here. I particularly like "Away with the parents who say no but who know not how to mean it." Of course, that makes me wonder about what we as a society need to be doing to teach parenting skills. And "children who have never climbed a tree" that gets me too.
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