Made of Wood

I wasn't going to post this one, but Rachel wanted me to... :)

Made of Wood 1/20/11
I have a violin with a one piece back.
They told me that's the nice kind,
the kind with a one piece back.

My old fiddle
had
a
line
down the middle,

like the place where
wal lpaper lines up

And when the light shines in
you can see a piece of yellow paper
stuck to the back
of the
one piece back.

You could shine the light in
my old one too, but you had to hold it right,
to see the piece of yellow paper
stuck to the back
of the
two piece back.

And it's true,
they didn't sound the same,

But

maybe that was just because of how the light
was shining through my fingers on the strings.

Wedding

Christmas provided ample material for poetry writing, but alas, the end of two (too) busy weeks found me with only fragments of forgotten inspiration. I had an idea for a poem that personified humanity as a beggar limping into a stable on Christmas Eve, then dancing his way out of the stable the next morning. I also had an idea for a poem that compared the extended family that visits over the holidays with the "extended family of God" that fills the congregation Christmas Eve, following themes of a richer, fuller community. Perhaps I'll finish them eventually, perhaps not. In the mean time, here's one about a wedding I saw. Warning: the main level on which this poem operates is not the standard metaphorical wedding between Christ and his Church. If read in this way, confusion may occur.

Wedding 1/4/2011
Bones wrapped in sweaty skin
itch at a tie too tight
at the end of a row of men in suits.
A million wooden pews away
white feet wait in whiter shoes.

For three days and nights (it seems)
she walks and
the world stands and waits
the world waits
and waits.

A thousand helpless, smiling souls await
the light, stage-ascending;
no one breaths for joy and
Fear
can such a light remain undimmed
by the darkness all around?

Then the white unites with
steadfast patience standing there,
adding strength to holy, precious love

the One Creator
creating one
greater than the ones
that once were only
ones

and after all
fear is gone
and after
all is joy
the wedding feast awaits.