Holy Week-A Poem Trio

The olive press, the hillside, the glory

These poems were originally published in my book Hearts on Pilgrimage Poems & Prayers in 2021, listed in the Spring and Summer sections of the book. It wasn’t until I re-read them recently that I also saw the Garden of Gethsemane, Golgotha and the glorious Sunday of Easter.

I pray you sense the same as you read this Easter trio of poems and see Christ’s life and love as it “plays in ten thousand places” (G.M. Hopkins) in the days ahead.

Christ be with you.

~Jody

p.s. Be sure to read the Note at the end about holding a miracle in my hand.

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Pressed Into Joy

Hebrews 12:2

Golden oil in rounded vessel,

liquid light refracting sun

in shimmers. Mirrored shape

reflects on glassy surface

and I wonder at the drop, drop, drops

of light as they drip, drip, drip down.

All this tasting joyfulness because

something was crushed and pressed,

leaving light.

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True Wood

Pears thunk and plop on

barren, yellow grass alone,

not-gathered. The tree

bore fruit but there is no

one to eat of it.

is it still a tree?

Upraised branches,

so much verdant waterspray

towards the sky,

still and soft against blue—

but no one to see.

is it still a tree?

Oaken limbs, worn with carrying

children to and fro, pumping, playing,

jumping, but no one to hear the joy

in the swing.

is it still a tree?

Carpenter fashions these

woodly beams, rough-hewn,

splinter-worthy, dangerous

to flesh. Carried as He trudges

to the top of a hill—everyone sees—

It was a tree.

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Recipe for Awakening

Stir together singular, disparate syllables.

Salt tears. Dry yeast.

Mix with water (no blood yet)

but sweat.

And all those tears.

Beat, not with a spoon—

convex form no match for the fear held in its hand—

but carefully stir the sifted self, Savior, kneaded

on a board until the dough pulls away.

Cover loosely with cloth,

place in a battered space

until deliverance is complete.

Let rise.

Form into one life, resurrected.

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In case you missed it….from my Notes on Substack