Sunday, November 23, 2014

Today's Sermon


I Corinthians 13:11

When I was a child, I spoke as a child.
I even had a child's disease.  I ran
From the Doberman like all children
On my street, but old men called me
Special.  The Doberman caught up,
Chewed my right knee.  Limp now
In two places, I carried a child's Bible
Like a football under the arm that didn't
Ache.  I was never alone.  I owned
My brother's shame of me.  I loved
The words thou and thee.  Both meant
My tongue in front of my teeth.
Both meant a someone speaking to me.
So what if I itched.  So what if I couldn't
Breathe.  I climbed the cyclone fence
Like children on my street and went
First when old men asked for a boy
To pray or to read.  Some had it worse--
Nobody whipped me with a water hose
Or a phone cord or a leash.  Old men
Said I'd grow into my face, and I did.

~ Jericho Brown

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