Sonnet 17 -- The Effort

For Suzy, after buying a new house in Medford.

The effort that’s required to buy a house

is daunting -- first amass a pile of cash,

a bank loan, and the buy-in from your spouse,

then if the market’s tight, go madly dash

to open houses everywhere in town,

ignoring the sage and sound advice --

“Buy low” -- you bid high, but still get turned down

although you bid above the asking price!

But like a pinball bouncing from home to home

that strikes the bonus, you win a jewel

with kitchens and bathrooms of burnished chrome,

a landscaped yard, and an backyard pool,

and there you can float about in style

and make all the effort you’ve spent worthwhile.

Sanctuary

For the Annual Meeting of the East Congregational Church of Milton, June 4, 2017

Brothers and sisters, when we’re upstairs

Singing the hymns and saying our prayers;

have you noticed that there’s peeling

paint chips flaking on the ceiling?

The narthex rug is stained and faded,

the paraments are dull and jaded,

and the light within now has to pass

to us through yellowing Plexiglas.

Beside the altar cross the panels

are sooty now from all the candles

that burned to show God’s presence here

on Sunday mornings for sixty-six years.

Now a sanctuary should inspire

visions of a higher power,

both to those who like to ponder

sermons, and those whose minds wander,

turning their eyes to rise above

the pediment, where the holy dove

looks back down at us in our pews

as we experience God’s good news.

And all or this – the sermon, story,

candles, choir, and offertory – 

are outward signs of an inner grace

that we share together in this sacred space.

So brothers and sisters, let's turn the page
on the musty rugs and the dusty beige,
and join as one to do our duty,

and restore this house of God to beauty.