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April 22–28 ❘ The Natural Man

Poem and discussion centering on King Benjamin’s description of the natural man as an enemy to God as recorded in Mosiah 3:19.

The Natural Man

wants what she wants:
A dozen chocolate chip cookies
fresh from the oven.
A knot-dissolving neck massage
without anything expected in return.
Someone to make dinner every night
for the rest of her life.
Is that too much to ask?

She wants to lie on the couch
and not work but still get paid.
She’s not so much an enemy to God
as an ally to no one, except as mood
or advantage suits. And maybe
an enemy to anyone who wants something.
She’d rather be loved for who she is—
but also, in spite of who she is.

She wants that soft, disappointed voice
that ticks off the daily checklist
to just shut up for once
every day
for the rest of her life.

Is that too much to ask?

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April 15–21 ❘ Wrestle

Poem and discussion centering on Enos’s prayer for the remission of his sins as recorded in Enos 1:2–4.

Wrestle

When I tell you
how I went to the woods
to hunger, to hunt,
to grapple with God,

you may think of Jacob
striving till daybreak,
out of joint and desperate
for blessing,

or careful Abraham
haggling for Sodom
down to ten righteous souls.

In the end,
the Lord pinned us all,
held us to our bargains,

for there can be no truce
with a changeable Father
who plays favorites.

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April 8–14 ❘ Family Tree

Poem and discussion centering on the allegory of the tame and wild olive trees as recorded in Jacob 5.

Family Tree

I don’t remember
how we started,
who was grafted into whom,

who first strengthened roots
and tamed bitter thoughts
to tenderness.

But I believe the Master
planted us together,
left us alone a while

not to make us desperate,
but to give time for turning
toward each other

to nourish away weakness
before we wither.
He waits at the gate,

hand poised
midway between grief
and hope.

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April 1–7 ❘ Unshaken

Poem and discussion centering on my reaction to those who reject Christ, mock his followers, and discount scripture as worthless as recorded in Jacob 7:1–2.

Unshaken

Like wriggling fish,
scripture slips our grasp.
Language changes, ripples,
migrates over time.
Our fathers wrested Christ from writ,
obscured and exiled him to desert.
Sherem tried to flatter him away
even from wilderness.

If words are water,
God’s are a brisk river running
one eternal round
from mountain to sea to sky.
Plunge in. Bury yourself,
unbraced against the Spirit.
Let Him shiver through,
purify like icy fire. He will
become clear to you.

Submerged in vivid oracle,
you will remain undisturbed
when little boats cut the surface.

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March 25–31 ❘ Foundation

Poem and discussion centering on Helaman’s words to his sons Nephi and Lehi as recorded in Helaman 5:12.

Foundation

This morning,
the house is quiet. I sip, savoring
half-remembered days of childhood
when I sang to the ceiling,
spinning improvised tunes
until I dropped off into sunny
afternoon sleep.

More often now,
the world’s a whirlwind
whipping mindless detritus
into purposeful, pointed shafts
and hailing violence till I weep
from the beating. I’ve yet to find cover
from the storm above,

but instead cling to rock beneath,
shored against crash after crash
by foundation on which I layer

interludes of silence—
nap-time burbles in crib,
morning meditations in kitchen,

sacred space of sacrament
when time hangs and Christ anchors
my memories eternally in His own.

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March 18–24 ❘ Not Mighty in Writing

Poem and discussion centering on Nephi’s assertion that he was not mighty in writing as recorded in 2 Nephi 33:1–4.

Not Mighty in Writing

When I write,
it’s a lecture you dismiss,
self-righteous sermon,
nagging prattle of younger brother.
My urging lies flat, an empty outline
you fill in with lifeless hues.
These words are sieve, not cistern.
All I pour in sifts through,
leaks away before it reaches you.

If we could speak face to face,
you wouldn’t need to intuit nuance.
Spirit would chase out darkness,
shine light on every hard-cut word.
You would hear, see,
understand.

Instead, I write,
and all these words of life
seem nothing more than sighs,
unforgiving whispers from the grave.

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March 11–17 ❘ Unconditional

Poem and discussion centering on God’s unconditional love for all of his children as recorded in 2 Nephi 33:6.

Unconditional

I glory in plain-speaking, the austere
and careful art of being understood
and showing by one's words and works the clear
delineation of both bad and good.

I grasp the opposition in all things,
the need to study out and set apart.
Joy cannot be without matched suffering—
and yet, disquiet murmurs in my heart.

Adept at separation, I lack skill
in making peace with foes, in being one.
Peculiar as I am, I seek God's will,
but can't half emulate the paragon

of One who loves to infinite degree,
who pleads for both my enemy and me.

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March 4–10 ❘ Isles of the Sea

Poem and discussion centering on the interconnectedness of God’s children no matter how far apart we may seem as recorded in 2 Nephi 29:7.

Isles of the Sea

we are small, but
not afloat or adrift—
far apart but connected
beneath ripples, waves—
our milieu from first to last—
our contrast, chance to stand
steady in storm, through rise
and ebb, through baptism
by water, by fire, by any-
thing, again and again
till end of days

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February 26–March 3 ❘ Cheat

Poem and discussion centering on the lies Satan tells to gain power over us as recorded in 2 Nephi 28:20–22.

Cheat

Satan wants to persuade you
he’s a fairy tale, a metaphor
for human selfishness

to bore a hole into your heart,
bind you thread by thread
with flaxen cords of flattery

to convince you
life’s too short not to indulge,
just this once, every day

to distract you as he swaps
pride for joy, bitterness
for wisdom, gluttony for peace.

Heaven knows, he really wants
not to exist at all—but since no rage,
no misery can snuff his soul,

he’ll instead teach you he isn’t real.
Then he’ll make you pay
to the uttermost.

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February 19–25 ❘ Feast

Poem and discussion centering on Jacob’s words to his people after they had separated themselves from the Lamanites as recorded in 2 Nephi 9:51.

Feast

We sit in a clearing
as wind pulses through trees,
moves hearts to quiver.
We gather close, tuck children
like chicks under wing.
We feel like the last people
at the end of the world,
alone escaped of Israel.

Jacob interprets Isaiah
by God’s gift. He speaks of hand
stretched out, ready to winnow
and whittle a remnant.
We feel the old story flow—
riven cities and abandoned families
sink deep, new layers
we know ourselves.

We pick through ancient words,
glean our shade by day, beacon by night.
The future seems aloof—we scarcely dare
to hope for someone soon
to part the curtain over tables laid
with fresh bread, water drawn
from saving wells, fruit
so sweet that tasting tunes
our tongues to angel song.

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February 12–18 ❘ Like Flint

Poem and discussion centering on Nephi’s determined character as exemplified in 2 Nephi 7:4–11.

Like Flint

All these years I’ve chipped
words from living quarry,
honed bright, unstained
instruments sharp enough
to pierce calcified hearts.

I’ve made a bow with spring,
arrow shafts from what straight
sticks I could find.
I’ve sought guidance
for the hunt.

My face is set,
bolts ready to fly and scatter
encompassing sparks.
I will not be ashamed.
Not anymore.

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February 5–11 ❘ Opposition in All

Poem and discussion centering on Lehi’s teachings on the necessity for opposition in all things as recorded in 2 Nephi 2:11.

Opposition in All

God eventually moves you
to the other side of everything.
Your team loses.
You disappoint a friend.
You raise teenagers
and morph into your mother.
You shuffle around in the same
comfortable justifications
your enemies broke in years ago.

Experience gives us options,
clothes choice in clarity.
We arc through life
from child to ancient,
descendant to ancestor.
We answer prayers
and wrestle out blessings.
The pendulum always swings
back to God.

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January 29–February 4 ❘ Tapestry

Poem and discussion centering on the Lord’s patience with even his most disobedient children as alluded to in 1 Nephi 20:9–10, 18–19.

Tapestry

We are woven threads,
warp and weft that touch
at just one point,
then branch off crosswise.
We diverge,

but can’t escape each other
without tearing ourselves.
Perhaps God suffers long
because of this—His love

dyes deep and true.
Thus we see even Lemuel
escaped the waves. Laman
also reached the promised land.

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January 22–28 ❘ Downstream

Poem and discussion centering on Laman and Lemuel’s complaint that the Lord didn’t make things known to them as recorded in 1 Nephi 15:6–9.

Downstream

I pray a river, a rush
of words drowning out all
possible conversation.

You somehow slip
responses in the current.
Small inspirations

sail downstream.
So few, I complain,
So hard to understand.

You sigh. I eddy
in my murmuring pool,
wondering why, if

You are always there,
You make no such thing
known to me.

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January 15–21 ❘ Great and Spacious

Poem and discussion centering on part of Lehi’s dream as recorded in 1 Nephi 8:26–27.

Great and Spacious

You think you’re eating fruit,
but all I see is insubstantial air.
You pantomime a feast,
children playing at nonsense.

Your narrow mind
only comprehends strait paths
while the whole world lies
abroad, a sweet mystery

to savor. I want to gorge
on warm security of wealth,
respect from the reputable,
room to move about and choose.

I’ve had my fill of your visions,
sick of exhortations and mock love
forged from constraint.

Listen to me now
as I roar from my window.

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January 8–14 ❘ Killing Laban

Poem and discussion centering on what Nephi did to recover the Brass Plates as recorded in 1 Nephi 4:7–18.

Killing Laban

An awful gulf divides
foolish boy 
who admires fine swords

from heart-sick man
who cuts through sinews 
like Abraham offering sacrifice

if he hadn’t been stopped
by the angel who argues
and wrestles to submission.

I am not a mighty poet,
and these plates are small,
so I won’t write how I still wake at night,

but instead beg mercy,
wretched as I am,
for the part within me

that hesitates in retrospect
at what it means to always
go and do what God commands.

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January 1–7 ❘ Testimony

Poem and discussion centering on the witness statements at the beginning of the Book of Mormon.

Testimony

It’s instinct—
we witness to each other
without effort,
build up or claw down
by what we give and withhold,

as if we were still spirits
at war over Christ,
who has now triumphed,
yet we bicker over who to follow.

Hold these words—
heft them. Bite down
to test for gold.

You choose what to believe.
Why not something beautiful?

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December 25–31 ❘ Judgment Day

Poem and discussion centering on John’s descriptions of the earth in its celestial glory as recorded in Revelation 20:12; 21:18.

Judgment Day

History is deep sediment
melted together past telling
except where patterns repeat,
burn through to surface—
Sodom is Nineveh is Babylon is Rome.

There are those who regret
but don’t repent—
ears stopped tight,
hearts hard as bone,
senses dead to pleasure,

but your remorse throbs
with bottomless accusation.
When you reach breaking point,
break open to God.
He will read through you

as through transparent glass,
make you understand and understood.
Distinct yet enveloped.
Enduring and still malleable
as pure gold.

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December 18–24 ❘ Anna, a Prophetess

Poem and discussion centering on the story of the prophetess Anna as recorded in Luke 2:36–38.

Anna, a Prophetess

I was blessed, really—
so many widows are left
with small children to feed
and no means to do it
but asking alms at the temple gate,
poor mites.

My husband was better than ten sons,
though he gave me none—
only affection and tenderness.
Wealth to keep me comfortable
after his death.
More empty time than I could spend.

I had enough to tempt new suitors,
hagglers over my loneliness.
But I didn’t want another husband.
Why try fate?
Instead, I did what other widows do:
went to the temple to beg.

And how I begged—
poured out my youth in prayer,
troubled heaven night and day
for some small morsel to fill my barren fast,
pled with a vengeance
for the Lord to hear me—

until today, after eighty-four years,
I heard Him
wailing in the courtyard,
over-tired and wriggling in his mother's arms.
Some days you see in an instant
how really blessed you are.

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December 11–17 ❘ Last Days

Poem and discussion centering on the Apostle Paul’s final days in prison.

Last Days

Chill of stone and earth
seeps deep into my bones
as if I were buried in this cell,
beginning to decay,

so I write for warmth,
to feel the Spirit as I did
when I testified face to face,
setting the world ablaze

in preparation for the Lord,
whose foot is poised
at the threshold, ready
to fall at any instant—

though He tarries longer
than I expected.
But I met Him shining in the sky
on the road to Damascus,

and I know He will come again
for me, for us all.

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