When my uncle married your daughter in 1975, you became his father-in-law.
Your daughter gave birth in 1979 and that was when you became a grandpa.
You lived long enough to see your great-great-grandchild, that's a privilege that many don't receive.
You raised a family and you were a preacher, those were great things that you were able to achieve.
It must have been nice to hold your great-great-grandson.
If you hadn't died, today you would've turned ninety-one.
Your life came to an end and you entered the Pearly Gates.
After living a long life, you died at the age of eighty-eight.
You preached the word of God when you became a Reverend.
Today would've been your birthday if your life hadn't come to an end.
[Dedicated to Eugene Williams (1931-2020) who died on October 1, 2020]
Categories:
reverend, birthday, death, grandfather,
Form: Rhyme
(at risk of life and limb) against scourge of
racial prejudice courtesy
of sharecropper grandparents
whose objection to racial segregation
based on an affront to the will of God,
whereby the young whip smart precocious lad,
(whose impact we now memorialize)
showed his true colorful promise
when a young student at
Liberal Crozer Theological Seminary
in Chester, Pennsylvania
where the yet uncrowned
eminent king came under the influence
of theologian Reinhold Niebuhr,
a classmate of his father's
at Morehouse College
who became a mentor by exposing
his protégée to liberal views of theology
planting the seeds of ardent activism
that gave rise to
The Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC),
an initial platform
allowing, enabling and providing acclaim
hoisted up by petard
invariably only heightened
(his) posthumous status
as thee most articulate orator
spelling binding the listeners
with his metaphors about his emphatic march
to a promised land where all
men/women could be brothers/sisters
and no person will be judged
by the color of his/her skin
raising morale of many dirt poor
ebony masses to feel a glimmer of hope.
Categories:
reverend, 10th grade, 11th grade,
Form: Free verse
the
moon
have reverend eyes
that
take me back
through
the
Perrie planes
where the wild winds blow
back and forth
through
the
tall green switchgrass
with
a white painted
wooden church
planted firmly in the ground
and
with
her
narrow steeple
pointed up
towards
the
Kingdom of God
Categories:
reverend, image, imagery, imagination, introspection,
Form: Free verse
planting the seeds of ardent activism
that gave rise to
The Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC),
an initial platform
allowing, enabling and providing acclaim
hoisted up by petard
invariably only heightened
(his) posthumous status
as thee most articulate orator
spelling binding the listeners
with his metaphors about his emphatic march
to a promised land where all
men/women could be brothers/sisters
and no person will be judged
by the color of his/her skin
raising morale of many dirt poor
ebony masses to feel a glimmer of hope.
Categories:
reverend, 10th grade, 11th grade,
Form: Free verse
Alas, we on earth are left to mourn,
The passing of The Reverend Billy Graham.
Yet, there is great rejoicing in Heaven this day,
As God with his angels embraced His beloved lamb!
He faithfully preached The Good News to all creation,
Following The Great Commission proclaimed by Him.
When he reached out to touch the face of Christ,
He said, "Welcome, Billy! You served My people well!"
If ever there was a man who earned a rendezvous with God,
'Twas certainly The Reverend Billy Graham!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
Categories:
reverend, death,
Form: Blank verse
When the moon and sun eclipse
That's when he wakes from the abyss
Then slips into black leather gloves
To hunt the neck of those he does not love
The ones who claim that it's all fake
Shall from this darkness never wake and
them that scream one final scream
Should never have doubted the existence of
The Reverend Moolah Green
Categories:
reverend, murder, religious,
Form: I do not know?
Five decades have made his preaching prophetic, didactic
Fresh from College, he was invited to go on teaching, O Professor King!
Chiseled his own Gettysburg address, to heal divided church and State:
We honor your family that overcame threats, bombs, the Bureau's wiretapping!
Yes, you were snatched away from us in your prime
Like a few other great Americans, and one who descended from Heaven
Like Jesus Himself, disciples disappointed, turned away ... with time
Now, it is safe to celebrate you (birth and death): How you inspire the children!
(c) A. Deo, 04042017
Categories:
reverend, anniversary, black african american,
Form: Quatrain
The Indignant Reverend
By Elton Camp
The reverend Boozer was in a snit
What was it making him have a fit?
Was it gossiping by his flock
That he found a piece of crock?
Perhaps it was the telling of lies
That he so very much did despise?
Was it church members being drunk
That he was calling a lot of bunk?
No, last week the contribution he counted
And found that to a small sum it amounted
That was the only source of his anger
That his paycheck was in much danger
“You’re robbing the Lord,” he did say
But it was himself who desired the pay
So he let them know unmistakably well
By being stingy, they were risking hell
Categories:
reverend, religion,
Form: Rhyme
Dressed in white robes forever,
The reverend is laid into a dark endeavor.
With closed eyes, the young man dies,
Catching the world and his loved ones by surprise.
Such an intricate mind,
Entwined with an everlasting insanity,
Becoming vanity in death, a blinding inhumanity.
And as the white robes cover his face,
He is remembered as a brother we cannot replace,
An eternal grace to our memory,
An undying embrace to our melody.
Death is a reverend plague,
An unclear vague,
Claiming the lives of all that is real,
Concealing the material body a soul leaves behind,
And keeping in memory all of mankind.
Categories:
reverend, death
Form: Rhyme