Sunrise by Henry Worthy, Obl Cam OSB, London

The Courage to Pray Easter Prayers



By Peter Menkin

Searching for the words, the courage


to pray enters my life. Like an arrow,


the declaration of thanksgiving comes


and I say aloud, moving my lips:






Like promise, like heart song, like breath


that is in me--speak. My friend the monk


advises: speak. So trying short notes,


with courage of soul, speak I do.






There is just the two of us; so I believe:


God in Christ, Holy Spirit, for it is courage


brought to the self through the grace of God,


I pray. Like an arrow, the words go heavenward.

Leaving your Mark, photo by Rick White, Mill Valley, CA



Peter Menkin (on left), Linda Shirado,
Brother Rich Atkinson
at The Redwoods, Mill Valley, CA
in Ministry to the Elderly

 Alleluah!! Easter!!
By Peter Menkin

At the intersection of Easter


we wait with thoughts of new life,


the life of a baby, the life of the Baptized,


the life of the lamb, and the memory of slaughter,


of the death is fresh, but forgotten for the time


we say, He is risen! He is risen indeed!!






Those bones, those bones, those dry bones


are linked, renewed, given flesh, given life.


More than renewal, like freshness, like birth...


Out of the tomb, white as lightning, transfigured...


we are mystified, believers, quiet in surprise,


wondering at the miracle and hearing how the Apostles


told their friends the tomb is empty.






He is risen! He is risen indeed!!






The mind cannot fathom God's working, the promise,


we go on with the tale, this myth, this story


this reality after vigil, after waiting, knowing the end


does not come, for from generation to generation the day


is celebrated, as from everlasting to everlasting there is Christ.






Shall we say it the third time, Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy,


Lord have mercy. He is risen! He is risen indeed!!






Alleluah!






Freely is the offer made, freely we take the body and blood,


...we bless you in this freeform of sentences, for our creation,


preservation...above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption


of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; we share in his victory over death.



Stone on Beach by Rick White

  

Speak to my Heart, a poem by Peter Menkin

Friend:

Let me explain this situation, for the hour of the morning is early. There is darkness, and it is quiet as I continue my work on the new poem. I've been thinking, and wishing, that a new poem would come to me, for it is in the waiting that a premonition can be found for the inspiration of a work. Even a short work like this religious poem that expresses how the Spirit of the Lord is Upon me.

It was earlier in the day, considering that the hour of the morning of the next day is here, so it was really the evening of the day before, that I was telling a friend that the spirit of God came upon the character of the Bible with long, curly hair who said, The Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me. His name escaped my friend. But you know who I mean.

Anyway, this Epiphany in the season of Epiphany entered my mind and I became conscious of the words, which wrote themselves. So it seemed. So it seems. It was earlier today I spoke via internet with a new friend about poetry, and the inspiration that contemplation brings. I spoke about the inspiration that comes of taking Communion. I did not say that inspiration also comes of prayer. But he knows things like that, I am sure, for he teaches in College. People who go to Church know things about prayer, that some of those who don't get to do the work of attending worship have missed. Ah, so it is.

The new poem, written in the wee hours of the morning:



By Peter Menkin
January 25, 2010

I have waited on the Lord,
In the stillness of my mind.
In the music of a hymn,
In a conversation with a friend.

It is in the loveliness of a flower,
And the color of the light of day
Lost in a prayer from the prayer book,
I have waited on the Lord.

My friend, it is the pleasure of life,
The knowledge in simplicity of knowing
One another, and even the times that come looming
To the psyche of trials and fears in a tunnel
Where confinement of spirit and mind

Make the soul weep and wonder
That there is comfort in knowing you
Lord. Speak to my heart.

Audio reading of the poem by the poet is here

A poem by Peter Menkin, done with pictures by Terry Peck, turned into a movie video.

Gratefully Yours, poem by Peter Menkin

Did I not say gratefully yours
in my letter that I said that is a prayer
that I said
when I spoke to you in Church this evening
among my friends, others with whom I'd spoken
this same evening
that I said
gratefully yours, I love you Lord and give thanks
for the gifts you've given me. It's taken
so long to recognize
these gifts of love and friendship.
For I am gratefully yours,
and sorry I did not realize that I thank you
this day for my creation and preservation.

Audio reading by the poet is here:







My website is here:

http://www.petermenkin.com