do we
not need
for more
sake to be
ass reminded
embling than
together instructed
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, Dec. 23, 2012
Publisher’s note: struggle with this one for a while. Then post your comment on the poem.
go to church on sunday
2
Category Archives: Poetry
Choir
surrounded by sounds
of other breathing bodies
strong voices lead
others join
…
the director
cajoles pleads whips
with eyes hands baton
…
a legion of devils
become angels
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, December 22, 2012
Question from Views from the Edge:
Should there be 26, 27, or 28 tollings of the bell and candles lit after the tragedy of Newtown? Were Adam and Nancy members of the Choir?
“The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” – NRA Gospel.
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” – Jesus from the cross.
Pondering
Mary pondering
Mary did not think about these things,
(she did not weigh pros and cons, did not
analyze, dissect, or speculate),
no…”But Mary kept all those sayings
and pondered them in her heart.”
…
“Peace in earth, & towards all good will,” said
heavenly soldiers, messengers from God.
Shepherds spread the news of Mary’s child;
she reflected, (undistracted), mulled
and wondered when peace would start…
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, December 21, 2012
I Wish…
“70”
When I say I have reached “Three score and ten,”
most folks today do not recall the phrase-
is from the Bible. They just think of when-
“Four score and seven,” Lincoln said, in days-
of war.
At six-foot-eight I was too tall
for drafting to the war in Viet Nam.
My college friends were sent to fight and fall.
I went to Seminary–just a lamb
far from the wolves, from death, from… (I almost
mis-wrote “…from Agent Orange”–for which no cure
exists–or rhyme.)
I wish that I could boast
my years were spent in waging peace, in pure
activities alone: but many a day
I failed. (It is for mercy that I pray.)
Steve Shoemaker at historic pulpit of Sheldon Jackson in CO.
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, December 19, 2012
Sandy Hook: the Day After
Sometimes as Good as a Dog
Do not say that “It was the will of God.”
Imagine what automatons are like:
no thought, no will, no emotions. A good
dog trained to help the blind can make
the decision not to cross the busy
street even if the master says to heel.
…
A robot just repeats repeats a task.
A human can lovingly pat you on
the back, or choose to stab you in the back.
God seems to prefer life to a machine.
So we are free to love, to choose the good,
and if sometimes we do…we can thank God.
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL Dec. 15, 2012
Hee-Haw
“Just put the burro here,” he said,
“She’ll calm the horses of the folks
inside the inn.” And so they tied
me to the pole above the trough.
…
I was surprised he later led
a man and girl into the stall
and pointing to the straw, he said,
“Sleep here, this simple space is all
that’s left tonight, and if the child
is born the cries won’t wake the guests.”
…
He grimaced, but she somehow smiled
and sank down to the ground. Their rests
did not last long. Her labor soon
began and then the baby, wrapped
and warm, was laid under the moon
light bright where we, the stock, were trapped
and fed. I brayed when shepherds dumb
barged in and said a king had come…
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, Dec. 11, 2012
The Nativity, Martin Schongauer,
c. 1470/1475, National Gallery of Art Collection
The Manger
We are more than animals,
but not as much as we may think
We both must stop to eat and drink:
trough or table, room or stable.
He was placed in a manger.
…
He would become food for us:
bread and wine, life divine,
grace we can taste, pure salvation,
soul and body–redemption!
All from a baby in a manger.
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, December 10, 2012
Just Joseph
My children have had children, yet this week
this widower may take a teenager
to be a wife. Her family did not seek
a younger, handsome man. A carpenter
I am, not an Adonis– I worship
just Adonai, and follow in the way
of Torah, righteousness.
…
Did Mary slip
from following the way, from purity?
She is with child, yet I have had a dream
like Joseph did of old: an angel said
I should not fear to wed though it may seem
absurd. The child in her has been conceived
by holy spirit, not by sex. His name
should be Emmanuel, yes, God with us,
for he will save his people from their sins.
,,,
I will take Mary for my wife; Jesus
will be his name. God can speak in a dream.
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, Dec. 4, 2012
Bonfire
Even the embers warm
- Univ. of Illinois Campus Y bonfire
If we move our chairs and logs
Close enough. The flames
Began roaring, jumping
High above our heads
As balsam branches, pines
Burned first furiously.
…
Reflections off glasses,
Earrings, flash like the stars
Above in the moonless night.*
Two kites, tethered, can be heard,
Not seen, above the prairie.
…
Marshmallows ignite if held too long
Near the glowing coals
S’Mores give a sugar rush
After the tangy stuffed mushrooms.
No one can remember a ghost story
Or campfire song. The troubles
Of Job are all forgotten
As the sparks fly upward.
* In the photo there is a moon. This was photo-shopped out in the poem–poetic license.God seems to have chosen to have the Bible written this way, also; some things were omitted (or added) for the sake of the form or sound of the poem or story.
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, Dec. 1, 2012
The photograph is of University of Illinois students who were engaged in service projects at the oldest student organization, the University Y (1873), where Steve served as Executive Director.
Motion Pictures
Movies, films, the cinema:
Art of, for, and from our time…
Images that change-in-time,
(Move, meld, shock, surprise), that may
Well arouse, inflame, inform
Only the senses– ignore
Mind and reason, logic. For
Our eyes, ears, alive with time
Live entirely between past,
Future…imagination.
Reason and then reflection
Come only after the rest
Fades. We are what we recall.
We know more than we can tell.
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, November 26, 2012
Views from the Edge 