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Reflections on Still Waters

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Isaiah 55:12

You shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace,
And a song will break forth from the lands.
While the echoes of praise in the hills never cease,
And the trees of the field clap their hands.

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1 Thessalonians 4:13

To say that Christians grieve is true,
_But here’s the dope:
We do not grieve as others do
_Who have no hope.

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Psalm 30:5

Don’t hesitate to cry, my friend
_When feelings overtake you.
For sorrow, and your tears, will end
_When grief and pain forsake you.

For in your darkness shines a light,
_A new day is aborning,
For weeping may last through the night
_But joy comes in the morning.

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Luke 24:36

In faith, we cry, “Lord, save us, please!”
_And wait upon His will.
For when we sail on stormy seas
_He whispers, “Peace, be still.”

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John 20:27-29

I died, but I am living, yet.
_Believe in what you see.
For what you see is what you get,
_And what you get, is me.

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Psalm 70

Somebody laughed at me today.
_I don’t know why!
They simply laughed and walked away.
_I thought I’d die.

My zipper was not down, you see
_I checked that first.
But blushing red from nose to knee
_Just made it worse.

I wonder if they laughed because
_I was so tall?
Or skinny? Ugly? Weird? Or was
_My nose too small?

Perhaps they laughed because they heard
_My family name
And thought that being called “Tweedie-bird”
_Made me fair game.

I’ve heard “Let nothing you dismay,”
_But though I tried
To smile all my tears away,
_My smile lied.

This laughter hurt my pride a lot;
_I’ve taken note.
For whether with intent or not
_It got my goat.

May those who say to me, “Aha!”
_Turn back in shame.
Strike out, O Lord, and break their jaw,
_Or make them lame!

Come quickly, God, just give the word,
_I humbly pray.
You are my help and Savior, Lord,
_Do not delay.

The righteousness, O Lord, is mine
_And yours the might.
And yet, O God, this prayer so fine
_Does not seem right.

For Lord you were rejected, too,
_And crucified.
And people also laughed at you
_The day you died.

And although those who laughed would place
_You in a grave,
You met their laughter face to face
_And you forgave.

From vengeful thoughts, Lord, set me free.
_And teach me, too,
That even those who laugh at me
_Are loved by you.

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James A. Tweedie is a retired pastor living in Long Beach, Washington. He has written and published six novels, one collection of short stories, and four collections of poetry including Sidekicks, Mostly Sonnets, and Laughing Matters, all with Dunecrest Press. His poems have been published nationally and internationally in both print and online media. He was honored with being chosen as the winner of the 2021 SCP International Poetry Competition.

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8 Responses

  1. Paul A. Freeman

    If only Religious Studies at school was taught like your Psalm 70:

    ‘Strike out, O Lord, and break their jaw, / Or make them lame!’

    Magic.

    Reply
  2. Roy Eugene Peterson

    The Psalms were made for songs/poetry. Your beautiful, skillful, and faithful renditions are inspiring. I have written some poetry of a similar nature on other verses/chapters and am heartened by the publication of yours.

    Reply
  3. Cheryl A Corey

    What a wonderful collection, James. My particular favorites are “John..” and your use of “aborning”; and oh! if I could be transported into the Adan painting!

    Reply
  4. Julian D. Woodruff

    Thanks, James. These are all very fine indeed. The challenge in the last 4train of “Psalm 70” could be turned into a poem of its own–or maybe several poems.

    Reply
  5. James A. Tweedie

    The encouraging comments are appreciated. The Psalms, along with most of the words of most of the books of the Prophets and Old Testament Writings are in poetry which makes them both easy to rewrite into English poetry (see Scottish Psalter for an example, or the work of Issac Watts) or to imitate in creating original poems inspired by the Hebrew poetry forms (which include acrostics, word-play and multiple forms of parallelism. I would encourage others to share further work of this kind. If nothing else, the Psalms and many other passages of scripture can serve and prompts for poetic inspiration (as Jeff Kemper and TM Moore have done with Ecclesiastes).

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Thanks for your recommendation and examples, James.
      Highly recommended is The Poets’ Book of Psalms, edited by Laurence Wieder, which includes the entire Psalter versified by 25 poets from the 16th century on. Jeff Kemper ordered a copy as soon as he heard of it. As well, The Ailbe Psalter, from T. M. Moore’s Ailbe community, has the entire Psalter with each psalm matched to a traditional hymn tune, enabling all the psalms to be sung as well as read.

      Reply
  6. James Sale

    Milton, for one, versified the psalms and I think all attempts to contemporize scripture worthwhile and important – its words are so ‘big-themed’, to put it one way. I particularly like 1 Thess. Exactly.

    Reply
  7. Gigi Ryan

    Dear James,
    I love these poems. I find that writing verses about Scripture passages helps me to meditate on them more fully. I will try to do my part in submitting more of such, as you have challenged. Thank you.
    Gigi

    Reply

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