NaPoWriMo - day two

maundy thursday

so many feet need washing.

so many strangers walking the edges

of what is reasonable,

waiting. hands extended,

offering their emptiness.

here comes the King.

i have been standing here

with an open purse,

begging for answers

that i might purchase

a new life. i travel from home

to home, house to house.

i recite the prayers. once,

seven times, fourteen.

let me bow here. and here.

and again.

                    once more

you invite me to the table.

there is bread here. and wine.

we may become friends –

close enough for wounding,

our sides touching,

a measured silence, weighty

gestures, considerations.

come. join me at this table.

but first, this sacrament.

if it is. scrubbing our conscience

clean. let us sing together this song.

this is my commandment:

that you love one another.

Psalm of the Modern Psalm by Nicholas Samaras - NPM2

Lord, I want no cursing from the ancient psalms.
I don’t pray for any child to have to pay
a bad price for bad parents.

I don’t wish for any sins of the fathers
to be visited upon their generations. Let the innocent
bear only the reward of their innocence.

Instead, I petition only that all offenders
be reminded of their sins every hour.
Let the selfish be haunted by their ways.

Let their eye-sockets grow dark and hollow.
The absence of the Lord’s presence is a far worse
punishment than anything accomplished by smiting.

I don’t focus on a God of vengeance.
I don’t want revenge on my enemies—
no broken teeth, no gnashing of physical pain.

I wish the death of no one. I wish the harm of no one,
but that the Lord lead the wicked
only to repentance and a changed heart.

The gutter of their own lives is punishment alright.
But only let them realize this.
Let them inherit a living death called insight.

Samaras, Nicholas "Psalm of the Modern Psalm" American Psalm, World Psalm. Ashland: The Ashland Poetry Press, 2014. 51.