Category Archives: poetry

A study in contradictions

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

Psalm 29: One God, gloried by gods Breaking thunder. Powerful and splendid, breaking the cedars of Lebanon, breaking them down, bringing them joy, the joy of a child at play. Stricken lightning. Strong oaks writhe; the all too solid tree-flesh … Continue reading →

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Isaiah 6: 1-8

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

the seraphs, shimmering as if aflame flew on strong winds bellowing the coals to life; even the heavenly hosts used borrowed tools to take cleansing fire to touch my lips, set loose my tongue. Burning from the outside in, swallowing … Continue reading →

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Pentecost

Posted on May 26, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

Apostles on fire, unconsumed; baring their souls before holy ground.

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One verse, three translations

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

Not even, really, one verse, but a fraction, a phrase, a few words lost between languages, wondering how to tell us the truth about God. First, the Revised Standard Version of the first verse of the Psalm assigned for the … Continue reading →

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Snap

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

Words, fists fly up like so many black-beaked crows beating about his head, befouling and besmirching and pecking his eyes; Tut-tutting, clicking our tongues at the mess – “so distasteful” – we snap on our latex gloves to show how … Continue reading →

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Good Friday Liturgy

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

If your music can’t describe the agony without the temptation to temper it with sweetness, let it crash to the floor. If your canvas cannot portray the infinite end, the sightless abyss, the void, let it be empty. If your … Continue reading →

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Dereliction

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

Waiting for a sign from a sky bolted shut – the falling dove, Elijah and the Prophet shining – a sign that all is not lost or forgotten but still beloved; the child’s cry – “Why?” – to a stubborn … Continue reading →

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The Knitting Circle

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

At the foot of the cross, women nailed to the ground by grief. A short way off, more women with their knitting sticks, brows furrowed, lips pursed, though whether against death or thieves or Romans or a dropped stitch noone … Continue reading →

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Palms and the Passion

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

The adjudicator comes in pomp; the judge in different circumstances. Sunday’s parodied parade is parlayed into Friday’s farce of a trial. _________________________ Indebted to Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan, The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About … Continue reading →

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John 3:16

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

For God so loved the world he came between a mother and the baby at her breast so that each saw the image of love reflected in the other’s eyes God so loved the world that he sat at the … Continue reading →

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