POETRY
Camp Judson
Then they worshiped in rapt adoration,
encircling a roaring blaze ten feet tall
and wide, and the obsidian sky
was sprent with sparks soaring hot
with a hundred praises, heavenward,
beyond the tops of the tallest pines.
Seething I slashed every last chord
on my acoustic guitar like a madman
hacking logs, but their sound was drowned
in the swell of voices, mellifluous voices.
And the faces lining the circle’s rim
were lit and lifted heavenward also,
and several glistened wet with tears.
“Camp Judson,” read by Cameron Brooks.
Man Under Authority
When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him.
—Matthew 8:5
Such signal devotion
to this suffering servant
(and doubtless one of many)
to go out, as we say, on a limb
like that — that act
ingredient of all bona fide
belief, to hope without
presumption that it will be
done as one has believed.
But say the word, he said,
and it will be so. So, marveling,
Christ said to him: Go
“Man Under Authority,” read by Cameron Brooks.
Cameron Brooks is an MFA candidate at Seattle Pacific University. His poems have appeared or will soon appear in Poetry East, Third Wednesday, North Dakota Quarterly, Red Ogre Review, Pasque Petals, Ad Fontes Journal, and elsewhere. Cameron lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Check out his website to learn more.
Next (D. Walsh Gilbert) >
< Previous (Jennifer Stewart)
Artwork: Sankt Hansaften på Skagen. Måne bag Skyer (Midsummer’s Eve at Skagen. The Moon Behind Clouds) by Helga Ancher, 1948. Flickr.com.
Heart of Flesh Literary Journal 