Long Lutheran Poems
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(Note: In this abecedarian poem, I redacted the name of the particular denomination to protect the innocent and to universalize the context. Fill in your own favorite groups! Prejudice against those perceived to be “other” than “us” infiltrates human hearts no matter the identity or extent of the difference.)
Closed Community Prejudice (an Alphabetized Memoir)
By Mark D. Stucky
Almost everyone in my home community
belonged to _________ churches.
Churches not _________ (like Methodist and Lutheran)
didn’t seem “right” somehow, although nobody whispered it.
Every other group was less homogenous than us,
fated to be born “different” from us.
Good people maybe.
However,
inferior to us surely.
Just not quite like us.
Knew them only superficially.
Looked like us on the outside.
Maybe not that different after all?
No, they weren’t the same ethnicity as us.
Otherness lurked inside them.
…
Perhaps prejudices in all people,
quietly
rise
slowly
toward
unholy
vantage points.
What if
xenophobes, like
you and me, could
zero out all our distortions?
(Originally published as "Closed Community Memoir (Alphabetized)" in Reflecting on Race Through Poetry, a collection of participant poems from a class at First United Methodist Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1 Nov. 2000. See also my poems "Races," "Weapons of Wonder," and "Hate Vacuuming?")
(Original image by Braden Collum on Pexels.com.)
Lorie Ann kept dreaming of a little pink church.
The dreams started when she was six.
They continued until she was twelve.
Was the pink church real or imagination?
She mentioned this church to her parents several times.
They had attended lots of different churches.
She had been Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Disciples of Christ.
Years later Lorie Ann moved to Minnesota for a job.
She was sad and lonely, she knew no one in this state.
While speaking to her mother, her mother said “join a church.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Shop around. Go visit some.”
On Monday and Tuesday Lorie Ann prayed for guidance.
On Wednesday she drove past the pink church of her dreams.
She got out and walked around it.
A feeling of hope and peace surrounded her.
“Welcome!” the young minister said.
“You are home” an internal voice said, and she was.
Ever heard of the beautiful Ohio?
The writer in me wants you to know -
River life has its anecdotes
My granny, a German immigrant,
mastered that river in dinghy boats
to attend a Lutheran church.
I've crossed its waves on a raft that floats.
The writer in me wants you to know -
My father conquered the Ohio
on a ferryboat two times a day.
Except... when April rains closed the floodwall.
Then his carpool drove seventy miles one way
to cross on the next nearest bridge
in not-so-nearby Owensville Bay.
The Ohio River changes its flow.
The writer in me wants you to know.
My grandpa walked it in the depth of winter's freeze;
my grandkids explore its fossils in summer's drought.
Swimming it upstream is not an easy breeze
but its muddy shores hold childhood treasure.
It's where we teens met with our main squeeze.
August 14, 2021
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So you're stuck on 15-down for the name of a barren of mules!
Groups of creatures you can now name if you use this set of rules!
A group of apes is a shrewdness and a gang of asses is a pace.
Tigers are a streak and you'd better streak should they give chase!
Can you believe that skittish plovers are called a congregation?
(I wonder, perhaps Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic or other denomination?)
You might see a cackle of hyenas or a tower of giraffes at zoos,
Or if on a Kenyan safari a bloat of hippos or a fleet herd of gnus.
The name for a prickle of porcupines is an appropriate moniker for sure!
A sleek bunch of ferrets is called a business, and, why, I'm unsure.
Pesky squirrels are called a scurry and a warren is for rabbits.
(There are many warrens of rabbits due to their promiscuous habits!)
Badgers are grouped as a cete and leopards are known as a leap;
Moles are known as a labor and a herd or drove identifies sheep.
Parliaments of owls meet in trees and eagles in convocations.
Jellyfish waft about in smacks and peacocks strut in ostentations!
Screeching cormorants are a gulp which sounds mighty weird.
Steer clear of a crash of rhinos since they are to be feared!
Charming finches are called a charm and larks an exaltation,
Turkeys a rafter, frogs an army and starlings a murmuration.
Locusts are known as a plague and cockroaches an intrusion.
An unkindness of ravens and their raucous caws just causes confusion!
Groups of humans are known as Republicans, Democrats or Nazarenes,
Jerks and morons but this barely includes all human species by any means!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
(c) 2014 All Rights Reserved
(after Irene)
It’s a ravaged town down in these parts
The jobless faces and those heavy hearts
The sun barely makes it in before it disappears
A cold cold sky, clouds corrupt
Even the billboards won’t look up
‘cause goodness hasn’t come this way in years
Bone kids living outta tinted Fords
Barely separate from the cord
Innocence tied to the stake and surrounded by spears
I used to know happiness and love
Now I cry out to whatever’s above
‘cause goodness hasn’t come this way in years
Some camouflaged personnel roll by
I go to salute but don’t wonder why
I guess I bought into the dogma of courage and fear
When all the protection and virtues cease,
I might even kill for one moment’s peace
‘cause goodness hasn’t come this way in years
The water is receding after the flood
Baptizing a Lutheran church in mud
It’s all the space left to pray and weep acolyte’s tears
Forgive us our trespasses into crime
Our holy ghosts live on borrowed time
When goodness hasn’t come this way in years
The folksinger died in a burning crash –
A whole culture paid for his pine box in cash
While his own kids parade their scars in front of the mirror
But by then, there won’t be music left
When a scene dies, it dies a megaton death
And goodness will not come this way for years.
2011
Where are the children? Where are the children this night and day? In the African nation of South Sudan, there is a horrible famine. Their families, and their children are perishing because they are starving to death.
World television pastors, such as Rod Parsley, are pledged to help provide assistance. The Daystar and TBN networks really providing: fresh water and wells, medical, and dental care, food and of course shoes.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America has our world hunger fund, The Baptist, and charismatic churches sponsor missionaries. Professional athletes and entertainment industry's actors and musicians sponsor their own non-profit organizations. The Red Cross, and Salvation Army and Habit for Humanity etc. The list could go on endlessly. Yet photos of starving children we constantly see.
Many people have wondered why? Is there really a God above us in heaven's lofty skies? And if he does exist, does he even care about us? "The poor you will always have with you, you shall not always have me with you." He was addressing Jesus. Yes, God really does care! His ministry welcomed the little children and denied them not for such is the kingdom of heaven. We must have the faith of a child to please him and enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Where are the children? They need responsible people to care for both their physical spiritual needs. The secular world addresses their physical needs from cradle to the grave. The unborn children and their mothers need special treatment and care. What happens to an unborn child from conception if it dies? The child is immediately welcomed into the presence of Jesus Christ in the kingdom of heaven. It is their grieving mothers, fathers, and families needing both spiritual and emotional tender loving care TLC.
Just suppose the unborn child would have been severely disabled from birth? God knits us together in our mother's wombs. The physical conception process with a male's sperm fertilizing a female's egg. The sin nature of mankind is responsible not God. When Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowlege of Good and Evil--sin entered into the DNA of people. Death and destruction also entered in. Where are the children? Under the shelter of his everlasting arms.
Love in Christ Jesus!
Roxanne Lea Dubarry
aka Roxy Lea 1954
August 05, 2017
Millie lived on the corner, she told me it would be kind If I visited Olaf
across the street.....see, his wife of 65 years had passed away recently,
and Olaf was kinda outa sorts....he'd been taking care of her the last few years
while she was very ill. Olaf was a kind, first-generation Norwegian, he used to call
me "yimmy" when he saw me comin' across the street....clap his hands with delight!!
exclaiming yimmy! yimmy!
Olaf lived a spartan life now with his wife gone...when we were out on errands
he would shout ....Praise Jesus! to everyone and anybody in sight! pretty neat.
We made the same stops every week, 1st. we'd stop at Lutheran Colportage
to pick up handfuls of 50 cent crosses, he liked to hand these out to everyone!
then we stopped at the Taystee Outlet for day-old baked goods, followed by a stop
at the grocery store for chicken nuggets and american cheese (he only knew how,
or wanted to, use the microwave) that was the sum of his diet. We had a fun time!
After about six-months, I quit pickin' him up.....I don't know why......I regret it still,
I heard he used to ask people....where's yimmy?
He died about three weeks later, now he's with Jesus.
Me – Irish catlick working class:
mantillas, martyrs, Maynooth, Mass.
You – a literal Lutheran lass,
all pretzels, prenups, Mama Cass.
It never could have ever worked:
those ambiguities that lurked
were knees that, one day, would have jerked,
and we’d have wound up Douglas Sirked.
Your Nancy Clutter beats my Holden
(less Marlon Brando, more Karl Malden).
The pond we’re on was never golden –
winter white-out wiped out Walden.
I would have wearied of your sermons,
short Sheridans and shallow Shermans,
your Sophie Tuckers, Ethel Mermans,
poe-faced Pennsylvania Germans.
Ignore the stranger on the shore,
by Stan and Stella set no store.
Don’t give a damn what Della wore,
or Mary Tyler any more.
boy and girl intermingling
blood and veins overlapping
vulnerableness
a violet's caress
lavender kombucha
passion's persona
jasmine's megaphone
harmony's tone
music's movements
sincere sentiments
amethyst's kiss
hot and cold amiss
an artist's loaded brush
a starfish's bluish blush
a fairy dusting
mountain berry ice cream
jelly doughnut filling
ripened grapes distilling
regal drape twine
an eggplant's bloodline
royalty's manners
hung Lutheran banners
a swing-seated spiritual rest
creativity compressed
a poet's potential prose
a rare rose
a nose of lilac blooms
beauty's ballrooms
a pleasurable bruise
love's uncomfortable shoes
a plum's point of view
progeny of red and blue
evening sky's blending
a rainbow's favorite ending
Sophie Scholl was raised a Christian in a Lutheran family
Born in the town of Forchtenberg in south west Germany
For standing defiant against evil with her young life she'd pay
In a country that was in deep turmoil and had lost its way.
She was a young teenager in nineteen thirty three
When a new leader offering hope, emerged in Germany
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian, who came to power
And for many it was the start of their darkest hour.
To unite the German people the Nazis held rallies
In some of the larger towns and all the big cities
But something dark and sinister was taking place
The evil Nazis were plotting to create a master race.
All the youth were encouraged to join an organisation
Hitler youth they were known all over the nation
Sophie and her brother together, with some of their friends
Turned their backs on the movement and vowed to make amends.
Word was getting around about death camps and persecution
Together they decided to form, a small non violent organisation
Known as the 'White Rose' who urged the people to renounce Hitler
They handed out leaflets telling the truth, about the Nazis slaughter.
One day at Munich University where Sophie studied as a student
She was seen distributing leaflets on what Nazi ideology meant
A janitor intervened and confronted her, and wouldn't let her go
She was arrested and then handed over to the notorious Gestapo.
They interrogated her to find out, who her accomplices were
But she wouldn't give them their names, as they tortured her
They charged her with high treason and sentenced her to death
To die by the guillotine and the date of execution was set.
They executed twenty one year old Sophie for making a stand
And they had accused her of being a traitor, to the fatherland
They eventually captured the others, five of them in all
And they too walked to their deaths standing proud and tall.
It’s people like Sophie who want to make the world a better place
And not supporting some twisted ideology like a master race
The Nazis were eventually defeated and their leaders tried
But not before Sophie and millions of other innocents had died.
Written 15th May 2021.