Mystery of Tears – Spoken Word Poem

7/14/21

It’s been a lot of fun taking one of my poems and turning it into spoken word.

-Just the right inflection at just the right time.

-A subtle pause and then a sudden release of emotion like a cascading waterfall.

-A rollercoaster of truth and meaning that generates the feeling of … connection. (This is what we all crave.)

Click the link to listen. It will take you to Eloquilt‘s Backdrop page. It starts at 50:00.

 

You can read the poem below.

 

Mystery of Tears

Spasms speak louder than words.

Gushing freedom carves canals

Down mountains of flesh.

The fulfillment of time flaps its wings

Out of the fray.

Metronome drops of Love’s deep

Fill our hearts whole

Like the Samaritan woman’s bucket

That overflowed.

What can medicate a broken heart

Better than You?

Can Love ever be so true

As to live without You?

One Man wept more than all the salty seas

Of Arabia and Egypt combined.

He left His signature

Not on palm branches,

Shrouds

Or sepulchers.

With redemptive properties

Of bleach and blood

He stained the earth

And broke the curse.

His captivity is our escape.

And to His distress

We cry, “Oneness!”

 

The curtain was torn.

Satan scorned.

 

He could’ve easily ended His grief.

With the blink of an eye,

He would’ve been fine,

But heaven would’ve owned a thief.

Salvation is near

For all who believe and fear—

Not by fright

But by reverence

In each tear.

 

Blood in His eyes.

Spear in His side.

Thorns on His brow.

His Father left Him for now.

Pierced metacarpals

And punctured pink feet.

His mockers debased Him

To a piece of raw meat.

Custom pressed onto cumbersome beams.

“It’s finished!”

He prophetically screamed.

For obedience is a far better spice

Than our greatest deeds masked

As self-sacrifice.

 

Pain and pleasure He holds in a jar

Of every memory we hold dear.

 

Truly, substitutionary atonement

Saves all who sympathize

With the mystery of tears.

 

A special thanks to Whitesand on Youtube for providing the “Calm and Relaxing Piano Music – Infinite (Royalty Free).”

2 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Melinda Green
Melinda Green
3 years ago

I love the spoken word Chester

11/5/24

Kernels of gold sowed in sweat. Embodied husks designed to protect. Multicolored grain, a heavenly harvest. The plague in the Garden— one locust started— the Reaper ransoms to forget.   A rotted ear only hears the screams of its own dissection, an eternity of introspection. Rows of corn restless with guilt. The cup of wrath…

Read More »

10/18/24

Christmas for Ginny has always been the most important day of the year. It’s a magical day when anything is possible, like the unprecedented miracle of God taking on human form; it’s when a supernatural star led the Magi to the infant God-man, lying helplessly in a symbolic feeding trough; and it’s when men met God face-to-Face in a humble manger to worship him and feed from him. Ginny loves Christmas for both its majestic beauty and historical truth. She understands, however, that this sacred day has been tainted with folklore and commercialism, but experience and wisdom enable her to see these gilded traditions as a way to bridge the gap between the sacred and the profane. For Ginny, a gift for someone special on Christmas is a reminder of the greatest Gift ever given. So naturally Ginny wants to give Brad something special for Christmas. But she, too, finds herself without two pennies to rub together. Then, suddenly, an idea flashes across her mind that makes her eyes water, feeling the internal warmth that comes with giving wholeheartedly.

Read More »

10/17/24

Ten years ago, my parents, Robert and Sheila, were killed in a car accident on Christmas Day. A head on collision with a drunk driver took them away from me. It turned out that both front airbags were defective. They were coming back from looking at Christmas lights. My seven-year-old daughter was in the back seat. She was not wearing her seatbelt. She was thrown from the wreckage. She died instantly.

Read More »

Newsletter Signup