[A poem inspired by a Quaker magazine that has "garbage" as its theme.]
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| "Anti-mass" by Cornelia Parker was made from charred remains of a church |
the rejected, the refugee,
The “wretched refuse yearning to
breathe free.”
I lift up in the Light those treated
like trash,
Those living in the junk yards of
history.
Out of blackened wood from a burned
out church,
An artist made a
mobile that took our breath away
rising with amazing grace to the
sky light,
Saying “the whole idea was handed
down to me by God
To use that which has been
discarded
Just as we as a people have been
discarded, made invisible.”
Out of shards of broken glass
from a bombed out church in
Bethlehem
ornaments were made so we could
see God’s love
Lighting the world like the smile
of a child.
Out of scraps of Scripture
George and Margaret sowed
together a quilt of love
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| Tim Nobel and Sue Webster compile trash to make art… |
the hidden power in our hearts.
Out of used furniture, a poet
makes a tree.
Out of dust and ashes, a mystic
makes a path to eternity.
Blessed be this compost heap,
my gardener friend told me,
For out of its funky depths
will come the food that feeds
your belly.
As you pull out weeds,
remember the words of a wise
Indian:
There are no weeds, only plants
Whose usefulness we don’t yet
see.
Remember the words of a wise woman:
The world is a rummage sale.
What some consider trash, others
see as treasures.
Remember the words of a wise man:
I count as garbage
all my achievements and degrees.
Only love matters. Only love
turns junk into jewelry,
A crown of thorns into a crown of
light.
[Notes: Margaret and George refer to Margaret Fell and George Fox, the founders of Quakerism. "Out of used furniture, a poet makes a tree" is a line stolen from a poem by my teacher, Anne Sexton. The "wise man" is the apostle Paul, Philippians 3:8.]
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