A Found Poem can be found anywhere an arrangement of words or interesting thoughts pop out at you. Some poets scramble and reassemble lines from a magazine ad, a speech, an article, or a favorite book. Since my favorite book is the Bible, I often find Found Poems there, and this week they reflect next Sunday’s readings.
To explain, many church denominations use the same Lectionary each week with readings from the Hebrew Bible (aka Old Testament), a Psalm, an Epistle (letter) from the New Testament, and a Gospel. Our multi-denominational church does this too, and when I saw the readings for the first Sunday in October, I thought, “Wow! I found poems in each of those scriptures: Psalm 137, Lamentations, 2 Timothy 1, and Luke 17. So, to give you examples and encourage your poetic findings, here they are!
Harps On The Willows
based on Psalm 137
By Babylon's waters,
we sat down & wept.
By Babylon's rivers,
we lingered.
Remembering Zion,
we hung up our harps.
We hung weeping harps
on the willows.
We flung our lyres onto
the poplars.
May peace come to
us.
May songs come to
us.
May God come to us.
Shalom, Zion.
"Give us a song!"
our tormentors sang.
"Sing us your songs
of Zion."
But how shall we sing
with our lives out of tune?
As we mourn,
shall we croon over Zion?
Shall we sing the Lord's song
out of Zion?
May peace come to
us.
May songs come to
us.
May God come to us.
Shalom, Zion.
Jerusalem!
May we never forget!
May we never forget God's city.
If we do not recall,
surely God's wrath will fall
over every song sung
not of Zion.
Shalom will not rest
outside Zion.
May peace come to
us.
May songs come to
us.
Oh, God! Come to us!
Shalom! Zion!
from my book A Gathering of Poems
…
Found in the prophet Jeremiah’s
entire Book of Lamentations
I.
Lonely sits the city
once full of citizens.
Bitterly she weeps
in the silence of night.
Even the roads to her
mourn softly. The
priests groan. Young
girls grieve. The city’s
enemies prosper.
Precious things filled
the past. She took no
thought for the future.
Look, Lord, and see
how worthless she’s
become, and no one
comforts her.
II.
The Lord has done this!
God has destroyed her
without mercy. Her
prophets see no visions.
People! Cry aloud to God!
Pour our your hearts like
water. Lift up your hands
for the children, who
faint from hunger.
III.
I am the one who sees
this affliction. In the
dark, I sit without light.
Chains weigh me down.
A wall holds back my
prayers. My soul has
found no peace. Yet
Hope returns as I call
to mind the steadfast
love of the Lord, Whose
mercies never cease.
They are new every
morning. Great is Your
faithfulness. Therefore,
I will still hope in You.
How good to wait in
silence for salvation
from the Lord as I turn
the other cheek to the
Smiter. Let us test and
examine our ways,
and return to God. Let
us lift up our hearts and
our hands to Heaven.
When I call to the Lord,
He says, “Do not fear!”
IV.
In vain we watched for
help from a nation who
could not save us.
V.
Now we must buy wood
for warmth. We must
buy water to quench our
thirst. Music has ceased,
but God orchestrates
everything! Restore us,
O Lord! Restore us, and
we shall be restored.
…
Haiku from 2 Timothy 1:7
God does not give us
a spirit of fear, but love,
power, and sound mind.
Mastering Servants
prose poem from Luke 17:7-10
“If your servants do only as you ask and nothing more…”
Do we praise them profusely?
Picture the people we hired – dragging themselves in,
wearily sweating and reeking of dirt and sheep after
plowing a field or keeping watch over the flock. Do we
hop up to wash their feet or cook their dinner and serve
them while they rest? No way! Instead, we might say,
“Hey, get my dinner, then get your own.” So when
we only do as God commands, and the Lord Himself
gets up to welcome us and wash our feet and give us
rest, it might be best to say, “Oh, Lord, I am not worthy
of such attention and affection! I’ve merely done the
minimum required to keep my job.”
…
Haiku humor based on Luke 17:6
I’ll be more likely
to tell that mountain to move
than find faith to climb!
…
Hopefully, my examples encourage you to search the Bible for Found Poems and maybe find more than that! As you look through scripture, especially notice verses that speak to you and your readers today.
May blessings and poetry abound!
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