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My heart overflows with noble words.†
To the king I must speak the song I have made, *
My tongue as nimble as the pen of a scribe.

Again, today
we recount
the lord’s mighty deeds
tales of whip-ass, long ago
and end with the wedding song.

but we live in these latter-days
assailed by the dissonance of battle
and boredom and want
the wicked prosper
and I’ve got no whip-ass

So today I lean on the teaching of St. John Damascene.

By the blessing of the Holy Spirit, you prepared my creation and my existence, not because man willed it or flesh desired it, but by your ineffable grace. The birth you prepared for me was such that it surpassed the laws of our nature. You sent me forth into the light by adopting me as your son and you enrolled me among the children of your holy and spotless Church.

You nursed me with the spiritual milk of your divine utterances. You kept me alive with the solid food of the Body of Jesus Christ, your Son. You delighted me with the cup of his life-giving Blood.

afrerimages

all the trees of the wood shout for joy † at the presence of the Lord for he comes, * he comes to rule the earth.

in anticipation of
the consummation of creation
where creator and creatures
meet
the new heaven and the new earth
. . .
trees
their very structure
an example of exultation
all of creation shares that structure
in thousands of iterations

help us lord
open our hearts
to join creation’s praise

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The poor man is devoured by the pride of the wicked : *
he is caught in the schemes that others have made.

the psalm pleas for a mighty act
while exposing the root of the poor man’s plight

complicit in these schemes
I am foolish enough to believe
that god doesn’t see
or that I don’t

we walk in a labyrinth
in these latter days
sinner and sinned against
together

let us lay this aside
we have no call for scapegoats here.

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For the oppressed let the Lord be a stronghold, * a stronghold in times of distress.

open our hearts to the refuge of your embrace
revealed in your word made flesh among us
open our hearts to the joys and sorrows
of our neighbors