Tag Archives: ELCA

Prompted poetry: sign

As part of my Lenten observance this year, I’ve decided to write a poem each day in response to a list of prompts. This is the prompt (and poem) for the third day of Lent, which was yesterday; it took longer getting here than I expected.

Sign

Watching M*A*S*H, I see that iconic
post bristling in the middle of the camp
with signs that say, “You are not here,”
embodiment of the dislocated denizens’
fervent prayer to be anywhere
else.

 

The signpost from the M*A*S*H set, as seen in the Smithsonian museum. Photo taken and released into the public domain by Stephen Williamson.

 

Prompted poetry: proclaim

As part of my Lenten observance this year, I’ve decided to write a poem each day in response to a list of prompts compiled by several Lutheran mission territories (also called synods). Today is the second day of Lent.

Proclaim

a fast from guilt, a season
of abstinence from beating
oneself up, from lying
awake nights to relive every lapse
in judgment, every hasty
word, every inaction

to repent means to go a different
direction, not to retrace one’s
missteps

 

lent2015

Prompted poetry: dust

Several mission territories of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have created a photo-a-day event to mark the Lenten season, which begins today, Ash Wednesday. I’ve decided that my Lenten discipline this year will be to use the prompts to write a poem each day.

Lent Begins

today I will give up
shame over my inadequate
housekeeping and see instead
my home dusted in grace, its corners
draped with filaments of mercy

lent2015