Hey, Jude!

A poem from 1985...

Watch me perform it on YouTube...

Hey, Judas

Suburban terrorist

You sold your master for thirty silver coins

Hey, Judas

Lowly traitor

Sold the Saviour

Signed His death warrant

Sealed it with a kiss.

Hey, Judas

Siding with Satan

Is so dangerous

Now you hang from a tree

Mourn, Gethsemane.

Hey, Judas

You repented

Gave back the money

Said you never meant it. Too late.

A Mild Form Of Confusion

A poem from 1989...

Watch me perform it on YouTube

she comes into my life for such a short time

but I immediately feel something within me

tugging

pulling

wanting to be with her

wanting to see her face looking at me

and to see her lips talking

her voice speaking to me

wanting the impossible to happen

but with me even the possible things are impossible!

I like the way she stares at me and smiles

even though it’s a bit embarrassing

such a short time

what’s the point?

Maybe I am reading the newspaper of her face

but missing the real point of each story

Lord, have mercy on me!

Because I find this emotion wholly illogical

and so it throws me into a mild form of confusion

in so short a time she will be gone

and then I’ll never see her again

so this short episode will be over

leaving me

if only for once it would all work out right

but is that what I really want?

Of course it all works out for GOOD

but does it all work out right?

The GOOD here is an objective reality

planned by God,

sent to me in a subjective package

but what is right in this case

is my own subjective desires

which are not always so aware of all the factors as God is

o, Lord, may this situation not be wasted

but please let it work out for good

Shopping City

A poetic parable from 1991...

Watch me perform it on YouTube

 

We walked through modern

Shopping city

Looking into windows

Shopping

Window shopping

In shopping city

Reduced prices

Still expensive

That's the harsh reality of

Shopping city

This is our day

This is our lives

Window shopping

People told us

"Look above the shops

See the beautiful architecture

Of past centuries

Before shopping city"

I didn't believe

That there was anything before

Shopping city

I couldn't look up

To see if it was real

If the past

Related to the present -

That would be irrational

Let the past be the past

We should live in today's

Shopping city

Ode To Nobody

A love poem from 1985...

Watch me perform it on YouTube (no, that picture is not me *smiles*)

The tender love that shines forth from your unsuspecting eyes falls down upon my joyous heart on tender unfelt love

The sweet aroma of your radiance penetrates my coldest moods transforming those painful feelings into a warm valiumnate calmness

the aesthetic face that is sculptured from the purest pearl

The warm eyes of marble that shed their stony gaze and become a paradox to enlighten my ignorant heart

The precision of the nose chipped into a wondrous union

The tender youthful lips that will always taste the mortal enemy

The hair like strands of finest gold-spun yarn

The perfect statistician of the bodily proportionate confirm the contours rising and falling in a wave of love

The smooth skin as tender and warm as a silk cloth on a radiator

The gentle hands that caress a million everyday objects, perhaps never to caress my soul

The legs as white as snow unblemished by a tarnished world

I give myself to you and your seductive romance for I am like the rose and you are like the honey bee

And I am like the honey bee while you are like a rose

*End*

Question: Can you guess the object of our lonely hero's affection?

Misunderstanding

A poem from 1989...
Watch me perform it on YouTube.

I feel lonely

I feel rejected

am I selfish? My motives could be

if I try to do or say anything

I am misunderstood.

They don’t listen - or they won’t listen

this is ridiculous!

Singing praises to God and

extolling brotherly love,

when in practise it doesn’t happen like that.

The enemy, of course,

wants to drag me down

at such a time as this.

The only way out

is to face up to the situation

and come out of the other side,

then laugh at Satan

because when I reach heaven

he can’t get at me any more,

and Christians will all be perfect there

Comment:
Needless to say, this is not very joyful! Sometimes perfectly innocent situations and conversations can push us "over the edge". We can be so caught up in ourselves and think people are against us, are hypocrites. We see the worst in people when the problem is in us. It is necessary to get out of this mindset sooner rather than later. Instead of expecting others to meet our needs, we should recognise that the world does not revolve around us. Instead of expecting everyone else to be perfect, we should remember that, like us, they are but dust. We need to cultivate an attitude of mercy and grace, both to ourselves and to others. We really do need to love ourselves in order to love others fully.

Chain-gang

This is a poem I wrote in 1985.
Watch me perform it on YouTube.

I was a slave

and my master was the world

he led me in his wicked ways

and

knowing no better

I followed him.

He snapped his fingers

and I jumped

he raised his gun

and pumped me

full of death.

Life poured out from the holes

he tore in my heart

so  I was too weak to fight.

Resistance was useless.

I sinned

and thought that it was good.

A preacher came to the camp telling of a better way

and his words

were like a candle in a dark

dark room.

He spoke of a great Liberator

who would free me from my bondage

for all eternity.

Yet surely I could not be saved

from such a lowly

place as this?

I waved good-bye

to my hopes

but I kept on listening

because I liked the preacher

and enjoyed his words.

The preacher left

and bereft of my friend

the world took up my chains again

and told me to act

in his evil pact

and I did

though grudgingly

as I thought of the Liberator.

The preacher came a second time

and saw that I was falling further

into confusion over his message

so he explained again.

And I decided to follow him!

He baptised my head in holy water

and my soul in Jesus Christ

whom I believe is the Son of God

then I thrust Satan out

and let Jesus in

to my heart.

I felt released

and looked down

my chains flew off!!

I ran away with Jesus

and the preacher held my hand

It was dark

but I could see

for the Holy Spirit guided me.

The world was furious with me

but I just hid in the Rock

and the world passed by

a slave no longer am I!


Galatians 5:1 - "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."