Fire

To toy with words is

to risk uttering incantations

beyond understanding.

It is to expose writer

and reader alike

to mysteries beyond fathoms;

maybe even scorching bystanders

who’ve neglected

to stuff their ears

with unholy cotton.

Once the shapes and spaces

of narrative and poetic familiarity

are uncorked in new

and precarious ways,

all bets are off as to

the fires that will be set.

Many a story or verse

has inexplicably mainlined

from eye or ear directly to heart,

forever changing, not just

the original readers,

but the universe itself

from the inside out.

© 2015 Todd Jenkins

Blooming

I went to a graveside funeral four days after a winter storm coated the entire mid-state of Tennessee with snow and ice. All along the drive to the cemetery, there were still small piles of unmelted snow, both where parking lots had been scraped and cleared, as well as in the shadows of trees and houses. This kind of weather is an unusual occurrence for our part of the country.

As I stood behind the graveside tent with the gathered congregation, listening to the resurrection being proclaimed by family, clergy, and soloist, I happened to look down at the grave marker I was standing near. There, against the cold gray granite, a single, tiny flower had bloomed. I looked all around me and these tiny flowers were everywhere.

I thought to myself, “Four days ago, this ground was under an inch of ice and, now, this flower is blooming. Resurrection is like that, conjuring life, by God’s grace, out of death’s icy grip.”

Carry on, not in despair and helplessness, but in the hope and promise of resurrection.

© 2015 Todd Jenkins

Free Religion

Whining about creation's diversity,

as it is expressed in both culture and religion,

convinces us that any restraint

required is actually oppression

or even attack on our own religion.

In fact, forbearance is the necessary expression

of a society that values religious freedom.

What would it be like to live in circumstances

where our religion was a small minority,

and religious freedom wasn't supported?

Myopic tendencies convince us

that freedom and intolerance can coexist,

but  being called to exercise religious restraint

in order that others may experience religious freedom,

reminds us that many of our European forebears

left their homelands to settle here

for this, among other reasons.

When tempted to believe

that one religion – ours, of course –

is the only one that government

needs to tolerate, we need reminding

that culture and society will thrive

with a shared vision of hope and love

much better than it will by

the forced practice of a single religion.

 

Photo by Lee Lindsey McKinney

© 2015 Todd Jenkins

Lifeberg

One of the surprise awakenings

of the spiritual journey

is the realization that,

as human beings, we have

some commonalities with icebergs.

Ego is the part of us that sits

above the water line.

Soul is the ginormous part

below the surface.

Though it is easier to identify

the portion in the air, and we spend

tremendous amounts of energy

trying to navigate by that part,

it is the massive submersion –

the soul – that is designed,

from jump-street,

to plot our course.

© 2015 Todd Jenkins

Now!

Book 2 is now available. 

A collection of 72 poems/prayers, each accompanied by scripture & full-color pictures for reflection. 

Also includes scriptural index and topical index.

Signed copies available:

$15 (local delivery)

$17 (mailed)

Contact me @

dabar96@gmail.com 

Also available from Amazon

Live

As much as Fear tries

to generate drama and excitement

when he arrives,

he is actually the most

boring party-crasher imaginable.

He has but one song:

a shrinking tune

with a repetitive chorus.

A six-armed beast,

with two hands

over your ears,

two over your eyes,

the final two

over your mouth,

his chorus is this:

♫If you’ll see no mercy,

hear no grace,

and speak no love,

it’ll feel like you’re completely

in control, and you’ll never

have to do anything

that makes you uncomfortable.♫

Here’s the thing:

if you let this song woo you

into its deceitful trance,

you won’t have to worry

about dying, ‘cause you’ll never

have a chance to live.

Photo by Holly Jenkins Williams

© 2015 Todd Jenkins

cHOSEN

Forgive us, O Lord,

for we have chosen sides,

instead of choosing each other;

we have chosen political parties

rather than choosing

to build a healthy nation;

we've chosen to keep score

and chosen to lose stories;

we've chosen to divide ourselves

instead of choosing to be united;

we've chosen to be right

rather than choosing

to be in right relationship;

we have chosen to control

instead of choosing to love;

we've chosen to live

artificial lies rather than

choosing to be inspired by

your organic truth.

we've chosen to live

as if we are the choosers

and not the ones

that you have chosen.

Forgive us, O God,

and do not unchoose us.

 

© 2015 Todd Jenkins