Open Door Policy

May 7, 2022 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ Leave a comment

Stained glass brings to light
biblical stories from the Gnostic editions.

Lori’s catechism
did not recognize the imagery or parables.

The pews appear to be made of silver
but are shiny gray carbon fibers

spun out of the flowing hairs
God shed walking the earth.

There is no reliquary
with bits and pieces of saints and martyrs.

The rose window above the apse
was created with cut crystals

that spay the entire sanctuary
with daylight broken into rainbows.

Lori vacuums the carpets free
of holy body bread crumbs

and dabs the holy blood wine spills
out of the burgundy carpet

after some homeless folks save themselves
and exit a few minutes before she arrives.

I am not Religious

September 19, 2021 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ 1 Comment

My idea of God
does not fit in a church.

I visited great European cathedrals
to view the artwork in the windows
statuary and architecture

not the reliquaries
and saintly crypts.

Churches do fit
within my idea of God.

Though not as well as forests
or mountain meadows.

I once started a count
of the everyday saints I met
as I traveled these United States.

Six full legal pads
and a box of pencils
sharpened to nubs
and I was only one week
into the adventure.

My idea of God
fills the void between protons
neutrons and electrons.
The galactic distances between molecules.

Something in the weak and strong forces.

Something that remains
gracefully and elegantly
out of my grasp.

Bronze

September 9, 2021 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ Leave a comment

The only way to get me
to sit through Sunday church
is for me to write myself into a story
where I sit on an old walnut pew
with red velvet cushions
and hymnals sleeved on the back
of the pew ahead of me.

And the drone of the preacher’s voice
is more like bees entering
and exiting the hive
so I can believe something sweet
will come of all this
instead of the preacher’s fire
and choking brimstone fumes
as if his finger wagged
the whole congregation
into old testament supplication.

But there I would sit
patient with poems in a binder
until the benediction
fell upon stirring feet
ready for the recessional.
And I would make my way
to the roof top
among the pigeons
and read aloud
while the bell stood firm
in its immobility
the clapper like a tongue
that lost its sway.

How Afraid They Must Have Been of My Superpowers

August 20, 2021 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ Leave a comment

Now that
I am older
I realize
that school
was designed
to teach things
out of me
as well as
teach things
into me.

Same
with religion.

It took me
decades
to unlearn
my way
back into
myself.

Stealth Mode

June 29, 2021 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ Leave a comment

You are
the twenty-seventh
coming of the Christ.

No one prophesied it.
Unlooked for
you quietly do good.

You learned your lesson
the first time
and do not antagonize

the church into seeking
a political remedy
for your anti-establishment leanings.

You wish to be
under social media’s radar
not particularly desiring

the world to appreciate reincarnation
or that there are
more than second chances.

This go-round
you present yourself
as non-binary

but continue to live and teach
the Golden Rule
and its platinum variations.

I am saddened that something happens
each time you turn thirty-three.
A car accident.

A drive-by shooting.
Some cross or another
to come down from.

Patina

March 17, 2021 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ Leave a comment

Paul spent the night
collecting the extra moonbeams
that fell to the ground.

He placed them in a cedar box
with two orcas carved in relief
upon the lid.

His plan was next morning
to braid the moonbeams
into Dora’s hair

so other might see
that loving glow he sees
when his eyes rest on her.

Paul overslept due to his late night
and Dora was out
before he woke

because it was a day of too many shadows
and the bronze bell’s call to church
rang a little bit hollow.

Bells

December 22, 2020 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ Leave a comment

Some bells say,
Time to come to church,

while other say,
Time for your next class.

Some bells tell time
and tell you nothing else.

Other sound an alarm.
Others peal victory.

One said, Liberty!
but it rings no more.

The Carol of the Bells
is Paul’s favorite.

All that hand-ringing
so appropriate.

Back Order

December 2, 2020 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ Leave a comment

Teddy bear window display
halts three gossips
while the red traffic light matches nails, lipstick & hats.

In the corner cafe
a man sits sideways at window bar
his sunburnt neck fringed with gray curls.

Across the street a church
projects the Virgin of Guadalupe
upon its five story warehouse facade.

The Virgin stands unaware of crosswalks
and people, eyes down,
unsure which serpents need crushing.

The Sunday bells recording
electronically rings folks into the plain brick vestibule
and onto folding chairs, while the man

wears a newspaper face mask
and fetches from around the headline margins
his tea cup from the table for sipping.

The three gossips
pick it up as the light changes
and they flow with the crowd

toward manufactured sanctuary, atonement
and redemption for five dollars
dropped in the collection plate.

Shelter Receives No One After Five

August 22, 2020 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ Leave a comment

We stood outside
the First Church of Christ.

It was one of six by that name
in the city.

We wanted sanctuary.
Our pandemic eviction was complete.

No one was home in the church
after dark—tale end of twilight, really.

Our boys and girls
played ring around the rosary—

a game they just made up
while clicking their tongues.

One of the boys argued this building
was the house of God

and God should let us in
to stay dry from the approaching storm.

One of our girls argued
God dwells in Heaven with the angels

and Heaven is in outer space.
She could not name the nearest star.

When the rain started,
one of our girls suggested

Fairies should kidnap all the children
away from us.

The youngest boy started crying.
He suffers from night terrors

and the night closed in
all around him, claws exposed.

Benefaction

August 21, 2020 ~ Kenneth P. Gurney ~ Leave a comment

One dawn I crawled
out from under the pews
and replaced the book
of common prayer
I used as a pillow.

On the cross
the Christ
seemed to be asleep,
so I tiptoed
not wishing to wake him
and jar him out of sorts
an hour before
the Sunday faithful
pinned their woes
to his flesh.

In the vestibule
a stack of polished oaken
collection plates
awaited the touch
of congregant hands
and the weight of money
as a secondary relief
from sin.

I seeded the top plate
with a dollar
on my way out.