falling in is easy — ask Alice.a slight step over the edge and falling or floating… or flyingcarried by a breezethat smells of hope and honeysuckle falling out is…not the same.one small, aching step and another and one morebefore a pause to catch my breathof air from which the honeysuckle is gone. one clawing grasp […]
Author: shannonvtrenton
Unswallow
I miss youI hate missing youand I hate being the one who always says it firstand I ABSOLUTELY hate the feeling (reality?) that if I didn’t ask (beg?) for your timethen it would never be on offer Looking at youis like gazing througha splintered pane of glassit’s all you and yet nothing quite alignsWords are […]
Juneteenth
Today is Juneteenth–in fact, the first observance of Juneteenth since President Biden signed the bill marking June 19 as a federal holiday. On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas and read from General Order Number 3: “The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the […]
The stars
the stars finally appearedwhen the sky grew so dark that the trees melted into itthe stars finally appearedfirst one, then othersand even though I saidI was done with wishesI stepped outlocked eyes with the firstand wept the stars finally appearedand all I could offer was a tear for every wishtoo heavy to carry,too big for […]
Silence
For being the god who seesYou sure don’t seem to see *me*The prayers and pleasThat pour out from meJust…roll off your resurrected backWhat else am I to concludebut thatHope is a lieVulnerability a trapKeep up the maskIt’s the only way to get through Could you maybe shut up and say something?The silence is too loudto […]
Walking in Wilderness
I catch your eyes drift and you’re far from hereAgain, you’re lost in wilderness alone Though I’d keep you from the brambles and the shadowsand the cold…Through them is the path you’re looking for I cannot lead you on,cannot keep you back,can’t hack away the vines that would ensnare youI can’t shout down silhouettes of […]
The fig tree
What if the fig treewas a live-streamed news reportand when Philipcalled to Nathanael,“Come and see!”it wasn’t Jesus he found but some Jesus flagsand a whole lot of Trump onesand some shirts that said“Camp Auschwitz”andSix Million Wasn’t EnoughandCivil Warnot the Captain America moviebut a remake of 1861 with gunsand flash bombsand zip tiesand gallowsand a mob […]
A poem for Epiphany
The Spirit comes in the ordinary, material, everyday. In water. In touch. In names. Tearing open the heavens from time to time, but just as often p‧e‧e‧l‧i‧n‧g back the corner just enough to p‧e‧e‧k “Taste and see” — “sip and glimpse” And then she leaves the corner loose — it doesn’t go back down as […]
Magnificat, Nullius Minuat
CW: Mentions of sexual assault I wrote this Magnificat-and-not (nullius minuat) litany for a worship service first celebrated December 31, 2017. The sermon is titled, “Magnificat and #MeToo”. It is a call and response between the Magnificat of Mary (Luke 1:46-55) and an imagined response by Tamar, daughter of David, after she was raped by […]
“The Next Right Thing”
Anyone who has had to sit through one of my Easter sermons knows that, as joyful as I find Resurrection Sunday to be, the holiest part of the Triduum for me is Saturday. I think it is impossible for us to fully grasp the joy and hope and celebration of Christ’s resurrection, to understand the […]