Departed

 

My father died six weeks ago.
The man was barely past his prime…
Ninety-eight years his lifespan though—
It seems a longer/shorter time.

So where did he go, that skeptic ghost
Who mocked at God until the end?
And, in that place, does he still boast,
His atheism to defend?

I loved that man, but Christ the Lord
Maintains a narrow entrance list.
The One whose doctrines he abhorred
By now has welcomed— or dismissed.

 

 


Today, write your own meditation on grief: a few short stanzas,
with a middle section in which a question is repeated with different answers given.

 

The Madman’s Pig Speaks


Today, write your own poem in the voice of a specific animal with references to historical events.

Antiochus, he took my life
And poured my blood upon their scrolls,
Unleashing Maccabean strife.
Antiochus, he took my life;
He grabbed my snout and stuck his knife.
I did not die to save their souls—
Antiochus, he took my life
And poured my blood upon their scrolls.

He met his end on Persian soil:
Epiphanes, mad Seleucid.
My blood was not exchanged for oil
He met his end on Persian soil:
Invading armies’ plans to spoil.
He wasn’t known for being lucid—
He met his end on Persian soil:
Epiphanes, mad Seleucid . . .

 

 

Antiochus IV Epiphanes (c. 215 BC – 164 BC) was the Seleucid king of the Hellenistic Syrian kingdom who reigned from 175 BC until 164 BC, best known for his persecution of the Jews and the subsequent Maccabean Revolt.  Initially named Mithridates, he seized the throne after his brother Seleucus IV was assassinated, ruling as a controversial usurper while his nephew Demetrius I was held hostage in Rome.
Key historical events and characteristics include:
  • Hellenization and Persecution: He enforced Greek culture by outlawing Jewish rites, desecrating the Jerusalem Temple by erecting an altar to Zeus and sacrificing swine, and ordering the destruction of the Torah.
  • Military Campaigns: He nearly conquered Ptolemaic Egypt but was forced to withdraw in 168 BC after Roman ambassador Gaius Popillius Laenas drew a line in the sand, demanding an immediate response.
  • Legacy: His erratic and capricious behavior earned him the nickname “Epimanes” (“The Mad”) from detractors, and he is often viewed in Jewish tradition and Christian eschatology as a precursor to the Antichrist.
Antiochus died in 164 BC in Tabae (modern-day Iran) while campaigning against the Parthians, following a military defeat and a contracting illness. His death marked the end of the immediate crisis, allowing the Maccabees to recapture Jerusalem, cleanse the Temple, and eventually establish an independent Jewish state.

[from Wikipedia]