Easter Morning
Forgive me, dear friends and family,
for not being at church this morning.
I was attending seven o’clock service
in the chapel of the woods.
Likely you haven’t heard of it –
it’s non-denominational. No pews,
no confessionals, no creeds outworn,
no baskets to take my money.
Don’t get me wrong – I love Jesus.
He is my guide and compass.
I see his face in the glittering stream,
his tears in the dew on the leaves.
I see his crucifixion in the slaughter
of boughs and bones on the forest crown,
and his resurrection in the bluebells
that rise from the loam of their decay.
My soul rejoices at the prospect of spring.
Is that not praise enough?
Poem By James Kerr
James Brian Kerr’s fiction and poetry has appeared in the Sewanee Review, Red River Review, The Poet, Short Story Town, and other journals. His book, The Long Walk Home: How I Lost My Job as a Corporate Remora Fish and Rediscovered My Life’s Purpose, is forthcoming in Fall 2021 from Blydyn Square Books. He writes on fatherhood, men’s mental health, and the journey of the inner warrior in his blog Peaceable Man. He lives in northeast Pennsylvania with his GSP Cassie.