TWO THORNY POEMS [Sun, 1-14-24]

CHRIST IN WINTER: Reflections on Faith & Life for the Years of Winter—TWO THORNY POEMS [Sun, 1-14-24]

 

[From my poetry journal]

[Sun, 1-7-24]

THE NAME OF THE THORN

Umberto Eco was so wise

to call it The Name of the Rose

Any title that holds a rose

will not linger long upon the shelf

But what of the stories

that claim to be

about the rose

but really

are about the thorn

[Sat, 1-13-24]

HUMILITY OF THE THORN

One theory about the thorn

in the flesh:

God gave it to him

to keep Paul humble.

He was, after all,

a rather arrogant type

  despite his occasional demurrers

  to the contrary

so sure of his righteousness

that he stoned poor Stephen

If so, the thorn was good,

the obstacle being the way,

as Marcus Aurelius put it

much too late to do Paul any good

and also too late to do Stephen any good

John Robert McFarland