a delighted rennie d

The following poem was ignited by some words of Oswald Chambers’ in his marvellous devotional My Utmost for His Highest. It came to fruition while wandering between rows of desks while young people slaved at exam texts:

delight

delight, i hear
a word, a life
dedicated to
being

delight, i hear
a place, a life
encompassed
possessed

delight, I live

Rennie D
4 September 2003

a branded family man

While on a Lenten Retreat in 1995 I had the opportunity to reflect on “belonging”, and the two poems below echo something of that reflection:

family

a desire for love
an opportunity
companionship and
sharing

a desire broken
selfishness
i the important
ignores the other

a desire for wholeness
sacrifice and joy
intimate and responsible
honours the other

Rennie D
21 March 1995

branded

i am branded
on his palms
a nail in his wrist
a cross not forgotten

i am community
with my family
they are branded
on my palms

Rennie D
21 March 1995
revised 15 March 2006

rennie d in the way

In 1988 I lost a friend, seemingly to the vagaries of the Apartheid regime. It deeply affected me, and others. I wrote this poem in her memory, to a friend who was more than a friend:

to a comrade in the way

not so long ago I walked in
a stranger among friends
you walked forward
and a friendship was forged
the warmth of your emerald eyes eternal
their depths unfathomable
in you I saw the nature of Christ
now you are gone

your life ended only to begin
in our pain the seeds you’ve sown
find their life-water
you died a prisoner of hope
and your blood cries out
for justice and righteousness
you call us to future hope
of freedom

our paths were not so far apart
you and i
now you are gone

shalom

rennie D
29 June 1988
revised 8 March 2006