Regina Green “jesus and the poet” / Escape into Life

  Shelley Lane, The Child Poet

 

jesus and the poet

jesus and the poet sat down together
one morning and the poet shared
how she wanted to start a church just for poets

how there would be black moleskins in the pews
and pens in the collection baskets and the high priest poet
would give them all a blessing from shakespeare or
akhmatova or oliver and with a final flourish

the air would be electric with the buzz of inspiration
muses would come forth from holy water fonts
poets writing the perfect line would be slain by the blood
of whitman right in their chairs and others would rush
to read and clap and be renewed in their faith

that writing poetry truly was a spiritual toil
and one might feel as low as low can get
but in a single stroke the dead would come to life
and all would cry

hallelujah hallelujah

and jesus called it the church of the suffering poor poet
for lack of anything better he said
but she knew he was right of course he was right
the beholder of all things immortal
who never held a pen in his life but with words
and desperate love wrote of many things seen and unseen

the church is open every day rain or shine
but especially on days of rain
there is no commitment
only that you fall in love at least once while reading neruda
to a stranger on a park bench

Regina Green’s poems have appeared in The Human Genre Project, A Little Poetry/Voracious Verses, Cahoots Magazine, Breadcrumb Scabs, Physiognomy in Letters and the on-line poetry blogs Bolts of Silk, This Zine Will Save Your Life, Thirteen Myna Birds and A Handful of Stones. She is also published in Spiraling Volume 1 and Spiraling Nature, two collaborative Lulu pressed poetry compilations. Regina is a therapist living in Marietta, GA and is celebrating her first real Fall and Winter since moving after twenty years in south Florida. Some of her favorite poets include Martin Espada, Anne Sexton, Saul Williams, Jane Kenyon and oh, so many others. Poetry is the blossom on her stem.  You can find her at Red Bird Chronicles.

 

Read more on Regina Green | Escape Into Life