Tuesday Poem: (Song) "New Test Leper" by R.E.M.

 

I can't say that I love Jesus
That would be a hollow claim
He did make some observations
And I'm quoting them today

"Judge not lest ye be judged"
What a beautiful refrain
The studio audience disagrees
Have His lambs all gone astray?

Call me a leper
Call me a leper
Call me a leper

"You are lost and disillusioned"
What an awful thing to say
I know this show doesn't flatter
It means nothing to me

I thought I might help them understand
What an ugly thing to see
"I am not an animal"
Subtitled under the screen

Call me a leper
Call me a leper
Call me a leper

When I tried to tell my story
They cut me off to take a break
I sat silent five commercials
I had nothing left to say

Talk show host was index-carded
All organized and blank
The other guests were scared and hardened
What a sad parade
What a sad parade

Call me a leper
Call me a leper
Call me a leper

by R.E.M.

For more information about R.E.M. see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.E.M.

Tuesday Poem: "Late Song" by Lauris Edmond

It's a still morning, quiet and cloudy
the kind of grey day I like best;
they'll be here soon, the little kids first,
creeping up to try and frighten me,
then the tall young men, the slim boy
with the marvellous smile, the dark girl
subtle and secret; and the others,

the parents, my children, my friends --

and I think: these truly are my weather
my grey mornings and my rain at night,
my sparkling afternoons and my birdcall at daylight;
they are my game of hide and seek, my song
that flies from a high window. They are

my dragonflies dancing on silver water.

Without them I cannot move forward, I am
a broken signpost, a train fetched up on
a small siding, a dry voice buzzing in the ears;
for they are also my blunders
and my forgiveness for blundering,
my road to the stars and my seagrass chair

in the sun. They fly where I cannot follow

and I -- I am their branch, their tree.
My song is of the generations, it echoes
the old dialogue of the years; it is the tribal

chorus that no one may sing alone. 

by Lauris Edmond

For more information about poet, Lauris Edmond, see:

https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/6e1/edmond-lauris-dorothy