Friday, February 19, 2016

The Darnedest Thing - a Petrine Poem

The Darnedest Thing!
(A Couple of Whoppers at the Capernaum Docks…Post Resurrection of Jesus)

O. Kris Widmer
February 19, 2016

15 Phrase Poetry Prompt Activity…Creating Poetry With Stephanie Haddad
She wrote on the great catch of fish from the Holy Bible.    I will do the same.
I used 14 of 15 phrases in the prompt.    Indicated in Bold Type
The only line not worked into this poem was “broken dimmer switch.”


Once I was a skeptic, but no more.
It’s the darnedest thing.

See this here “bill of sale?” 
The paper tore long ago on this paperwork
from the Cannery.  I put it right here, with the other receipts;
under this rock, on this here seat
of this ol’ creaky yellow boat.  Then it faded completely -
See?  It once had the total number, the total weight
and the total value - all unreadable now,
blurred from 3 years plus of daily radiance from above.

The proprietor used illegible writing anyway.

“I used these hands and these biceps
to throw this net into the sea.
This lake. Swish.  The padding on
these seats has long since worn away
leaving just these hard, weathered planks
on which to sit, kneel or stand.
We have also struggled with significant leaks.

“Nope.  Nope…
That moment will never be forgotten –
not by Andrew, John or James,
or me,
or anyone in the whole of Galilee!

“The night of futile fishing.
Napping in shifts, curled up on these frayed carpet fibers.
Him on the beach in the morning.
“Have you caught anything?”
“Throw out on the other side.”
The flipping and flapping of those fins.
‘We’ve got fish!’
Then we screamed for mutual aid
from the boats of the rest of the fleet. 
They came, but not soon enough.

“Lots of fish, I tell you.
Big fish!  More than 153, that’s for sure!
Such a happy problem!
The darnedest thing!

I jumped out of the boat towards him.
Squish.  The pudding of the muddy shore
recording my footprints.
‘Depart from me…for I am a sinful man.”

Weeks later, when the Rabbi returned to town,
All He did was speak words, and
my wife’s mother’s fever eased somewhat.
O.K., it eased completely, immediately.
The darnedest thing!

“Say, did I ever tell you the one about my roof?
The darnedest thing!

“Remember that guy that for years and years
was seen in town limping, but then we didn’t
see him for the longest time?
Well, there was that time
when The Master was at my place.
Gimpy’s friends brought him, tearing off my roof,
and smashing my oil lamps.
I shouted ‘power failure…again!’
But then, some words from The Word
sent him skipping away from my door -
forgiven and free.
The darnedest thing!

I’m tellin’ ya this -
in the final moments of my life,
as a fisher of fish and
a fisher of men,
I’m just gonna smile.
I believe in the Christ, the son of the living God.
It’s the darnedest thing!

Poetry Challenge  - Poetry Prompt
February 2016
by O. Kris Widmer
For Stephanie Haddad and Myself

Incorporate one phrase from each section into a poem.
Extra Creativity:  use two or more phrases.

Must use the words and punctuation precisely as listed on this sheet.

First Phrase
1.   illegible writing
2.   swish.  The padding
3.   squish.  The pudding
4.   the paper tore
5.   yellow boat.  Then it

Second Phrase                            
1.   power failure…again!
2.   fish!  Then we
3.   fever eased somewhat
4.   have also struggled with
5.   the final moments

Third Phrase
1.   into the sea
2.   limping, but then
3.   frayed carpet fibers
4.   broken dimmer switch
5.   not soon enough


911 on 217



911 on 217
O. Kris Widmer
copyright 2016

While in line
at the cell-phone store,
she calls us for help
without knowing the number.

“I was living independently,
Then, I met him at church.
He pursued me for a year.
Wouldn’t take “No” for an answer.
I had no backbone.
He wore me down.
Now, he cheapens me,
Demeans me, I mean.
We have this daughter.”

I’m purchase a flip phone for our
Tech-challenged mother,
While my sister tracks her down, outside.
She dangles cash, hoping it will help.

The caller takes it,
            then walks away.


-
3WW Week No. 466

Backbone, noun: spine, spinal column, vertebral column, vertebrae; back, mainstay, cornerstone, foundation, chief support, buttress, pillar, tower of strength, strength of character, strength of will, firmness, resolution, resolve, determination, fortitude, pluck, pluckiness, nerve, courage, mettle, spirit, moral fiber, guts, spunk, grit, true grit.

Cheapen, verb: demean, debase, degrade, lower, humble, devalue, abase, discredit, disgrace, dishonor, shame, humiliate, mortify, prostitute, reduce, lower (in price), cut, mark down, discount, slash.

Dangle, verb: hang (down), droop, swing, sway, wave, trail, stream, wave, swing, jiggle, brandish, flourish, offer, hold out; entice someone with, tempt someone with.


Monday, February 15, 2016

Poem - He Came To Die

I'm at The One Project in Seattle.   This is my third time at this gathering of people with Adventist faith in their lives...that are seeking to make Jesus.  All.    I am one of them...and it is why "Jesus.   All." has been printed on our church bulletin cover for the past 3 years.

Yesterday, on Day One of "The Final Week" the first presenter - Paul Dybdahl drew out from the Bible the parallels from the birth and death of Jesus.   It made me think of this old poem I wrote a few years ago.


HE CAME TO DIE
O. Kris Widmer

He came to die.

The Babe in the Manger
The Man on the Cross

Both times, He is next to wood.
Both times, He is wrapped only in a cloth.
Both times, He is gifted with myrrh.
Both times, He catches Herod’s attention.
Both times, He is crying.
Both times, His mother, Mary, weeps and crys out.
Both times, it is a man named Joseph who saves the day.

One time, the angels sing “Glory to God.”
One time, they hide their faces, not daring to look.

One time, a bright star is seen in the sky.
One time, even the sun refuses to shine.

The Babe in the Manger
The Man on the Cross

Both times, He lays in a borrowed cave.

One time, He lays on soft, fresh hay.
One time, He lays on a stone-cold slab.

One time, He is alive and kicking.
One time, He is dead and stiff.

Both times, the soldiers come up empty.
Both times, the angels says “Fear not...”

Just think, He came to die for YOU.
He came to share your life and take your death,
so that you, though you share His death, may have His life.

The Babe in the Manger

The Man on the Cross

Eunice Widmer: The Umbrella

  Eunice Mae Olson Widmer is dead. Long live (the memory) of Eunice M. Widmer   My mother, Eunice Mae Olson Widmer, has come back as an umbr...