Winners of the Charles Wesley Poetry Contest!
Photo by Dyana Wing So on Unsplash
The editors at Firebrand are pleased to present to you the winners of our first Charles Wesley Poetry Contest! In celebration of Charles Wesley’s birthday on December 18, we invited readers to submit original poetry that reflects orthodox Wesleyan theology, creates aesthetic appeal and a coherent theme, and uses appropriate literary devices. Ultimately, we asked our readers to create poems that lead us all to praise God. We had many fine submissions from all over the world, with a variety of themes and styles. This made it extremely difficult to choose our winners. In first place we applaud Adam Muckleroy’s poem, “Objections to the Incarnation” for its fascinating structure and approach, as well as his evocative theological themes. Our Honorable Mention poems likewise present deep theological themes in creative ways. Thank you to everyone who participated!
Objections to the incarnation
The Holy Theotokos by Maria Bellini
Who dares enjoy divinity
Yet leaves the highest place?
Gains the flesh of Adam’s race
Submits to humble Nativity.
Who dares offer a healing balm
Drawing near to the diseased?
Wholeness through faith received
Stopping seclusion and further harm.
Who dares call sinners to the feast
Unafraid to seem obscene?
Hope to those long left unseen
Reconciling those thought the least.
Who dares impart forgiveness
Refusing to shun or stone?
Bid repent in love shown
The silenced become a witness!
Who dares defy the kings and priests
The elite and their demands?
Holds to Wisdom that withstands
Against all trials which still persist.
Who dares endure great suffering
For the gain of the accursed?
The body torn, the hands pierced
An affront! Still, our delivering.
Who dares become obedient
To death even on a cross?
Counts his life as a loss
For mortal’s, a grace expedient.
Who dares to rise up from the grave
Deprives death of all its sting?
Ascends on high as the King
Exalted for the life he gave.
He who dares is Christ alone
Jesus, let tongues confess!
The Name of names we address
Making the Father’s glory known.
by Adam Muckleroy
Canton, TX
Koinonia
I know a place that knits mountain & valley, that binds the sun & moon in holy solemnization.
There's a fragrance in zion tantalizing my sinking heart,
Drawing my feeble feet to an oasis of fresh fiery fire.
I yearn now to drink from this spirited spring - springing up drums of gladness within.
For I solemnly seek and pledge allegiance to serve;
Expectation by Maria Bellini
Arúgbó ọjọ́ - the one who host the host of heaven & earth.
Terrans fry and stew his ode in pure glee,
The loins of all tribes & tongues & thrones.
Lo, in his heavenly hands nations spin.
Elédùmarè-plants sing, scream & shout in deep reverence,
dancing to the rhythmic melody of the windy wind.
They birds sway & swat, the lions roar in greatness all in awe of you.
Kábíyèsí- heralds of angel bath in your light,
O for a thousand tongues to sing for your immeasurable might.
Their lyre never ever tuned to mourning, nor their cymbals cry at noon.
In koinonia - sour sole souls are sandwiched in one accord.
by Victoria Ojo Ilemobayo
Lagos, Nigeria
Some Yoruba words were used in the poem, these are their meanings;
Arúgbó ọjọ́ = Ancient of Days.
Kábíyèsí = King like none.
Elédùmarè= Almighty God.
If for a day I adore thee not –
I look to the hills, lofty and fine
and down to the flatlands you made
I look to the trees, the riverine
Oh God, how marvelous the shade
At night, the moonlight radiates your face
And daylight reveal your glorious works
I sing with the birds, in rhythmic pace
Oh God, how great creation's rocks
You made the light of the fireflies
Spirit divine, the breeze of night
You made the wings of the butterflies
Oh God, you give the eagle flight
Possess, possess our hearts for you Lord
And cleanse us from the guilt of sin
Immortal, oh labyrinth of word
That giveth life, life unending
The forest glades proclaim thy beauty
And all the wild beasts growl your name
The snowy mountains melt down salty
With summer proclaiming your fame
Oh ancient gates whose heads lift to God
Twenty four elders, whose crown cast
Will I not prostrate in worship, Lord
I will arise and praise you on my feet.
If for a day I adore thee not –
cleave to my mouth my muted tongue
let us adore, Trinity besought
while eternal ages go on.
by Samuel Ojile Kelechukwu
Enugu, Nigeria
People and Places by Maria Bellini
“No Joke”
Jesus walks into a bar.
He lifts a hand in greeting to Elwood and Harvey,
Nods at the bartender as he eases onto a stool.
The bartender sets the usual before him.
Whiskey, neat.
Jesus glances at the man the next stool over.
An empty smile.
No one brings anything small into a bar.
Jesus is silent, sips his whiskey.
Keeps the man company.
The man breaks the silence.
No one brings anything small into a bar.
Jesus listens.
Nods.
Sips.
The man lightens, his face transfigured.
He breathes, his lungs full of Spirit.
He walks away, changed by Grace.
Because no one brings anything small into a bar
Not even Jesus.
by Samantha Miller
Spokane, WA
We Were But Blind Men On The Road
TUNE: St Columba
METER: 8.7.8.7
The Word by Maria Bellini
We were but blind men on the road
Our voices daily crying
Have mercy on us here below
We fear that we are dying
But then a king came down our street
A train of captives leading
We heard the music of their feet
but not a one was speaking
We stood and shouted to the king
The blind and poor and naked
Could there be light for us to see?
Have mercy son of David!
He stopped and hushed the anxious crowd
And knelt beside us beggars
He touched our eyes and made us proud
He saw us as his treasures
Now we are captives in his train
His love has made us worthy
We see the ones he dies to save
And live to show his mercy
by Cambron Wright
Highland Heights, KY
The Table In The Wilderness Valley
Can joy be found in the wilderness way?
Unless the sun shines eternal day
Wanting, I come, something yet not found
Eyes dried, I hear a Gospel sound
The valley deepens, my heart grows shallow
The walls of death, create the gallows
The light shines not, while I fall
At last, though, I hear the Gospel call
Pressing on, my spirit says go
Persistent enemy, my soul says no
I cannot rise amidst my stall
Pressing on, I hear His Gospel call
My Lord, My God, My Shepherd, My All
You’ve freed me from my drink of gall
The Table set before me now
The bread, the cup, before me, how?
Valley, pit, grave, remain beside
Now I live, even though I died
Your life now given in sacrifice
At Table, of Yours, are sinners alike
What joy is found in the wilderness way?
His grace found first, a sinner’s last day
The foe our footstool at His table, come all
Christ Lord, at Table, the Gospel Calls
by Jonathan Crabtree
Bristol, UK
The Grace of God
Truth Revealed by Maria Bellini
The grace of God
Prevenient still
Giving all a freed will
Prevenient grace
O What a sight
Darkness dispersed
By His marvelous light!
The grace of God
Convicting all
Calling us to renounce the fall
Convicting grace
My sin realized
Let us repent and be baptized!
The grace of God
Justified from blame
This is why Christ Jesus came
Justifying grace
My sin on Him was laid
The debt I owe is fully paid!
The grace of God
Sanctifying and freeing
Loving God and neighbor with all our being
Sanctifying grace
The purpose of election
Let us move forward
Towards Christian perfection!
by Austin Lynch
Stonewood, WV
Am I Reborn?
A Crown for a King by Maria Bellini
Am I reborn, and is my life new;
Traces of pride, lust, and anger but few?
Or, is my spirit yet strangled by sin;
Habits unbroken still plague me within?
I would be free, in mind, body, and will;
The hope of the gospel of Christ be fulfilled.
I’d realize the strength our Lord has to redeem
And his Spirit to conquer what rages in me.
So, bending before the God of pure grace,
Your child, once a rebel, I fall on my face,
To see the salvation of Christ – full and free,
A regeneration by your Spirit in me.
I claim Jesus’ promise: The Spirit God gives,
Restoring his image in whomever he lives;
Yet, greater than words of a promise could be,
The Spirit is witness: He’s living in me!
by Isaiah Allen
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Celestial Beings by Maria Bellini
(All Shall Come To Know His Name)
Who shall come to know our name?
What could we say to state our fame?
Amidst tyrants’ ire and empire’s grasps
All felled by God, all bowed with a mighty snap.
What could we say to state our fame?
Who shall come to know our name?
Neither statures nor monuments remain to test,
His holy grasp of time, the eternal rest.
Despite deeds done, despite martyrs slain,
All shall come to know his name.
Yet, by God, we are able to stand,
saints and sinners in his glorious hand!
We may throw down our starry crowns,
How all of our sins he then drowns!
What could we say to state our fame?
Who shall come to know our name?
How each witnesses testifying marks
presses against our trembling hearts.
And the searing spirit of the Lord’s
Mighty name, shall never pass our lips in vain.
By God’s grace, (we watch) his planted seeds bloom,
amidst our burial mounds, against fated dooms.
His eternal life transforms our scars
To beauty within his own wrists marred.
What could we say to state our fame?
Who shall come to know our name?
Despite our attempts to create a legacy.
The Lord has blessed us with a new identity,
bright amidst the promised stars,
we are given a new resolute heart.
By the one whose very breath birth the stars
whose name requires no fame
Jesus, Deliverer, the God who saves.
by Zaragosa Morales
Wilmore, KY
In the Shadow of Your Wings
Emanuel, God With Us by Maria Bellini
LORD, I would be like the sparrow
In your lovely dwelling place.
I would fly straight as an arrow,
Never leave your warm embrace.
To be gathered, make me willing,
Sheltered underneath your wing.
Only there is life fulfilling;
I’ll find rest in you and sing.
In your shadow there’s no darkness,
Darkness is as light to you.
Let the light of your face bless us,
‘Neath your wings your light comes through.
In you is life; that life’s our light;
You are full of truth and grace.
Joyful singing when you’re in sight,
May I always seek your face.
There within your sanctuary,
I’d stay and let praises flow.
But your wings, they also carry,
Stir my nest and bid me go.
When you send me, you go with me;
Still I’m sheltered in your love.
For your shadow never leaves me;
Wings embracing from above.
by Laura Stevenson Young
Knoxville, TN
Maria Bellini worships, lives and paints in Dayton, OH. Her paintings are for sale here