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Open Poetry #40
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Ratleader
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0 posted 2007-03-19 12:25 PM


Velcro

There’s a small square patch of Velcro
someone stuck to the cross, the big one
up behind the altar at my church.

Right where The Lord’s collar would be;
I mean, if He were still up there,  
and if He were wearing a collar
instead of that nondescript drape thing
the guards were gambling over.

It’s colored like the dark-stained wood
but the fuzzy texture gives it away.
I suppose it makes things easier
when they hang decorations there
at holidays, and take them down after.

Most of the time it’s just there, waiting.
I can’t make it mean anything,
but I can’t stop it from trying.

© Copyright 2007 Ed Ratledge - All Rights Reserved
passing shadows
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since 1999-08-26
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displaced
1 posted 2007-03-19 07:02 AM


probably doesn't mean a thing

sometimes simple things just are

and are just that...
simple


Ratleader
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2 posted 2007-03-19 09:14 AM


Actually it does....and there's a story behind that Velcro, which I learned within an hour after writing this.

Y'see, it's only small by comparison to that cross -- actually it's about six inches square, and it's used as part of the set for a show/pageant my church does every year, called The Glory Of Easter. http://www.crystalcathedral.org/glory_easter/index.cfm

They use it to hang decorations all right --in that show, THEY REALLY DO crucify Jesus with Velcro! Just think of the possibilities!  Wouldn't THAT have been handy for the Romans, back in the day?

Anyway, the actor's hanging up there the NASA way, which opens whole new avenues of thought, eh? But I guess if Jesus has to perform again in two hours, you'd better shortcut that resurrection any way you can!

.....Hmmmm.....not to mention the difficulty of finding an actor who was so "into" the role that he wouldn't mind the nails....oh, and where would you get all those understudys, to leap into stardom with each new performance?



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Janette
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3 posted 2007-03-19 10:00 AM


Velcro ... I must admit I chuckled a bit reading this, because there are so many things that we wonder about as we share our faith in church but "velcro" ... well that just stuck to me and made me giggle.  I would say you are most observant.

"Most of the time it’s just there, waiting."

Yes, like our Lord is "waiting" for us.

always seeking joy, adventure and romance and wishing you find the same

Martie
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since 1999-09-21
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4 posted 2007-03-19 12:38 PM


Ed

I went one time to see, The Glory of Easter.  Real camels and donkeys and one would almost think, real angels.  Maybe there was a "real" wiseman, I don't know.

jak
Member
since 2007-03-14
Posts 85
Charlotte, NC
5 posted 2007-03-19 02:46 PM


feels like a lost journal entry. revealing.

Jak
Argonaut - My Poetry Blog

Sunshine
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Listening to every heart
6 posted 2007-03-19 05:45 PM



In a simple notice of
the small stuff,
you really brought forth
the big picture.




Ratleader
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7 posted 2007-03-19 05:52 PM


It's so hard to write poetry with religion in it -- let alone religious poetry. If you're not insulting someone, you're making them mad, and if neither then you've gotten so trite they went to sleep at line seven....

When I try it, I try to be as non-dogmatic as possible, and at all costs to avoid the "standard language" that is so easy to resort to and so tedious. That I've succeeded even slightly here, is, like that old-time religion, good enough for me!

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Janette
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8 posted 2007-03-19 08:35 PM


"...like that old-time religion, good enough for me!"

It was good enough for me, too.  I enjoyed this so much I came back to read it ... again.

always seeking joy, adventure and romance and wishing you find the same

Thebaer
Junior Member
since 2007-03-18
Posts 10

9 posted 2007-03-19 08:54 PM


i like the way you adressed the topic, playfully but with serious intent.
Drauntz
Member Elite
since 2007-03-16
Posts 2905
Los Angeles California
10 posted 2007-03-19 10:19 PM


A velcro made you write a poem without trying
A  play could bring out a poem and crying
What behind all of this?
a story about after dying.

write more. enjoy read it.



steavenr
Member Elite
since 2003-11-17
Posts 4058

11 posted 2007-03-20 12:55 PM


and here I thought I remembered the the Edict of Velcro, which (if I remember correctly) was adopted as the symbol of adherence by the council of 3M in 1977...at least that's what I put on wikipedia...
The Lady
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-12-26
Posts 7634
The Southwest
12 posted 2007-03-20 07:30 PM




"I can’t make it mean anything,
but I can’t stop it from trying."

and that's the whole point
isn't it?

I enjoyed this and your explanation very much

dwgpoet
Member
since 2007-03-05
Posts 122
FL, USA
13 posted 2007-03-20 07:59 PM



Yes, your success lies,

in non-dogmatic replies;

avoiding the "standard" cross;

resorting to the tedious,

religous bashing
or advertising,

Yes, success; "unsub-scribe"


Ratleader
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Member Rara Avis
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14 posted 2007-03-20 08:01 PM


Oh I hope I can be that -- an Unsub Scribe!

Yesssss!!!

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suthern
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Member Seraphic
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Louisiana
15 posted 2007-03-29 12:56 PM


I'm continually amazed at what you see, what you notice... and how you open both our eyes and our hearts when you share your vision.

I couldn't help but remember being a kid at church and finding faces in the paneling's knotholes (I wasn't alone... 6 of us former kids meet there at Easter and inevitably, someone will pay homage to the knotholes that are now covered... or give the number of holes in each ceiling tile... those sermons were LONG! *G*)

But you put your time to far better use... and let your mind wander right into poetry... and gave us all a blessing. *S*

TerryW
Senior Member
since 2000-03-23
Posts 779
Louisville, Mississippi, USA
16 posted 2007-03-29 01:04 PM


Very well done, and interesting to boot!

Thanks for sharing...


Terry

~you reached inside, you touched my heart,
and I am all the better for it~
Terry A. Woodson, Jr.

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