With the dawn of a new church year, we have launched a new feature on our website, a weekly post of poetry that resonates with the lectionary readings for that week.
*** Revised Common Lectionary ***
Lectionary Reading:
Psalm 81:1, 10-16
CLASSIC POEM:
The Gift to Sing
James Weldon Johnson
Sometimes the mist overhangs my path,
And blackening clouds about me cling;
But, oh, I have a magic way
To turn the gloom to cheerful day—
I softly sing.
And if the way grows darker still,
Shadowed by Sorrow’s somber wing,
With glad defiance in my throat,
I pierce the darkness with a note,
And sing, and sing.
I brood not over the broken past,
Nor dread whatever time may bring;
No nights are dark, no days are long,
While in my heart there swells a song,
And I can sing.
*** This poem is in the public domain,
and may be read in a live-streamed worship service.
CONTEMPORARY POEM:
song at midnight
Lucille Clifton
SNIPPET:
this big woman
carries much sweetness
…
[ READ THE FULL POEM ]
<<<<<< PREV. POEM |
NEXT POEM >>>>>>
FREE EBOOK!
Reading for the Common Good
From ERB Editor Christopher Smith
Reading for the Common Good
From ERB Editor Christopher Smith
and the life of the church."
-Karen Swallow Prior
Enter your email below to sign up for our weekly newsletter & download your FREE copy of this ebook!
Lectionary Poetry is wonderful! Three cheers for those who are behind this project! How can I read this week by week? What is the link? Is there a book? An e-book? A web-site?
Peter, Glad that you appreciate this project!
The Lectionary Poems are included in our free, weekly e-newsletter. You can sign up for that here: https://englewoodreview.org/enewsletter/
An ebook for Year A is in the works, and should be available this fall, prior to Advent. Print books may be available eventually, but we’re still sorting out the legal red-tape around publishing poetry.