It's Thursday night so we all know that mean's it's time for Poetry Friday. This week's festival of free verse, carnival of couplets, and symposium of sonnets is being held at Bookseed Studio.
I went through about 1.3 million drafts or so of this poem before I got this far. I was driving my family crazy with all the revisions. Here is what I came up with ...
I have really enjoyed my short time as part of the Poetry Friday community. Up until a month ago or so, I would just occasionally see links to it on some of the blogs I follow. It wasn't until 4 weeks ago that I started posting there.
I love music, and I have a very eclectic taste in music. There are many things I enjoy about music, but I think overall I am drawn to the lyrics. Today's "Poem" is actually lyrics from a song that I think would make excellent poetry. I think once a month or so, I will share some of these songs here and post them as well to Poetry Friday, which by the way is being hosted this week by Janice at Salt City Verse.
Today's Poem/Song is How Can They Live Without Jesus by the late Keith Green.
Before I reveal the lyrics, a few quick comments about them and the writer. Keith Green was a contemporary Christian musician (CCM) from the mid-'70s to the late '80s who died in a plane crash in 1982. He was a gifted pianist, singer, and songwriter.
This song has a very strong and clear Christian message. It is a message that many may take umbrage with. I don't share it here to be divisive or evangelical. While I agree with the tone and the message of the song, I share it here because I think it's great poetry. I find it thought-provoking, and at the same time, it is enjoyable.
How Can They Live Without Jesus
How can they live without Jesus?
How can they live without Gods love?
How can they feel so at home down here,
When there's so much more up above?
Throwing away the things that matter,
They hold on to things that don't.
The world has gone crazy,
But soon maybe,
A lot more are gonna know.
For maybe they don't understand it
Or maybe they just haven't heard
Or maybe we're not doing all we can
Living up to His Holy Word.
'Cause phonies have come
And wrongs been done
Even killing in Jesus' name
And if you've been burned,
Here's what I've learned:
The Lord's not the one to blame.
For He's just not religion
With steeples and bells
Or a salesman who will sell you
The things you just want to hear
For His love was such
That he suffered so much
To cause some of us
Just to follow, follow
So many laughing at Jesus
While the funnies thing That He's done
Is love this old stubborn rebellious world
While their hate for him just goes on
And love just like that
Will bring Him back
for the few, He can call his friends
The ones He's found true
Who've made it through
Enduring until the end
The ones He's found true
Who've made it through
Enduring until the end
If you are interested in hearing the song, here is a rendition by the CCM vocal group, Glad.
I am participating today in the Six Sentence Story Thursday Link Up at Girlie on the Edge's blog.
The basic idea is to write a story consisting of six sentences only. Each week a word prompt is given to base the story on. This week's prompt was: strike.
Down to the Last Strike.
Frank only understood one thing in his life, baseball; everything else was like watching a movie in one unintelligible language with subtitles in another unintelligble language.
Baseball had absorbed his life for too long now: obsessed with it as a kid, endowed with an incredible gift to play his favorite game on a high level, and then lucky enough to get drafted by his favorite team.
His luck and his signing bonus-grubbing wife ran out nearly simultaneously after a career-ending injury before his professional career really even started.
He stumbled at first but soon, Frank was making the transition from player to scout; until he got the news about his Dad's cancer.
Frank only understood one thing in his life, and that was baseball - everything he knew, his Dad had taught him; the greatest of those lessons was you play the game down to your last strike.
Frank knew that life wasn't all peanuts and Cracker Jacks, and was now absorbed with something more than baseball: rooting for the home team.
