He Is Risen, As He Said

This is a décima for Ronovan Writes’s weekly challenge. We are still celebrating the Easter season, so it’s not too late to share this. 🙂 In fact, the Sunday after Easter is also known as Divine Mercy Sunday.

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Resurrexit sicut dixit:
Through many sorrows, there are joys,
Let us sing and make joyful noise,
Death has suffered lasting defeat.

Those who are lost shall again meet
With loved ones, nevermore to leave,
As an everlasting reprieve.
Joy shall be known, all beautiful,
So celebration’s plentiful:
Blessed are all who have believed!

Beloved

For the current Weekly Scribblings at PSU, Rosemary invites us to write about non-human beloved companions, whether they be pets or animals or even inanimate objects. I decided to write about my rosary. I carry one just about everywhere I go. It is more than an object because, through the prayers, it connects me to heaven. 🙂 Below is a picture of my favorite rosary.

My current favorite rosary

hear my prayer:
heart freely chooses
to stay close
to the source
of every loveliness,
the pearl of great price

Celebration

Inspired by Easter Sunday, this is for the décima challenge and for MLMM’s Saturday Mix: Double Take.

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Humans did err, got caught in claws
Of death, yet Jesus came, erased
The penalty — He, our faith’s base,
This is our celebration’s cause.

This deserves more than loud applause
But a whole life: God made us heirs
With Christ, all His blessings He shares.
Bass, tenor, alto, soprano
All sing in harmony and show
Even death itself — life which dares.

Holy Saturday: a Puente Poem

On this Holy Saturday, we read an excerpt from an ancient homily as a part of the Liturgy of the Hours. It inspired me because it is a fantastic example of antithesis. Click here to read it. The homily, plus some Bible verses, inspired this poem, which is called a Puente poem because the middle line acts as a “bridge” between the two stanzas.

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Just as in Adam all die,
So in Christ shall all be made alive:
Adam’s side had brought forth Eve,
Christ’s side made blood and water stream

~ My side has healed the pain in yours ~

Human hearts experience much hurt,
But the Lord the last word does assert:
Angels which had blocked the garden
Guide souls to heaven, gracious pardon.

Ecce Lignum Crucis

Behold the wood of the Cross:

How can I say, “What loss

Is ours, is mine,”

When pain and death combine

In this horrific way?

Still, we have had our fill

Of what seems supremely ill —

We all await Easter Sunday.

Mary’s “Yes”

This décima is for the current challenge from Ronovan Writes. The word “dance” needs to end one of the D lines. This was completely different from my first attempt (which will not be posted 🙂 ), but I am pretty happy with this. I really admire Mary, the mother of Jesus!

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After Mary’s “Yes” awaiting
On which humanity’s fate rests,
Relieved, angels have no regrets:
Cherubim and seraphim sing.

Mary’s “Fiat” an offering
Always humble under God’s will,
Immaculate Heart Spirit-filled.
Courageously she joins the dance,
Conscious of the divine romance,
And she loves her decision still.

All God’s Creatures Thank Him

Shared with the Writers’ Pantry at PSU. Inspired by one of the psalms that I read this morning. 🙂

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The little bird, when it chirps,
Does it speak to its Creator?
Before it carries away crumbs,
Does it thank God for what comes?

The majestic eagle, when it flies,
One higher does it recognize?
Him who gave it talons and wings,
Deserves great praise from all things.

Photo by Jean van der Meulen on Pexels.com

Staunch Support

This short poem is for FOWC: Staunch. The form was borrowed from Frank’s post, and he used the form that he found on Myrna’s post, so go check out these people. 🙂  This seems very short, so maybe next time I can write multiple stanzas.

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God loves because that is His very Self:
His support is staunch,
The Spirit is willing
Destiny to launch

Mother of Sorrows

The DVerse Poetics prompt is about paradoxes today. Please follow the link to read other poets’ submissions and lovely examples of paradoxes in poetry. One of the options we were given is to build a poem around one of the given lines, and I am choosing the line, “I am the mother of sorrows; I am the ender of grief;” from the poem “The Paradox” by Paul Dunbar. The first thing I thought of was Our Lady of Sorrows:

Ash Wednesday

For Frank’s current haikai challenge, I wrote a haibun about Ash Wednesday.

The ashes that are used to mark the foreheads of the faithful, as a sign of repentance, grief yet hope, are the ashes from the burnt palm branches from the previous year’s Palm Sunday. Since Palm Sunday was cancelled for the public last Lent, I wonder which branches were burned. They were burned along with the hope of certain earthly pleasures — a reminder that this was never meant to be anyone’s true home.

Symbol-filled ashes:
Journey to destination
Because life is Lent

Me, on Ash Wednesday 2017