Gospel Poetics: A Way into Your Soul with Poetry, Prayer and The Lord Jesus

By Frederick Preston Annie

This book of poetry is an opportunity to search for meaning in the Gospel of St. Matthew and a way to explore your soul.

St. Mathew’s Gospel is a rich and fertile field producing abundant insights into life and the human condition. These poems cultivate this wisdom and translate it into poetry, amplifying its meaning and adding contemporary context and color. Once engaged in the poetic, the reader is offered additional insights generated by their own excited imagination. To aid the imagination, I have added an original abstract painting to each poem to enhance the experience.

This experience of the Holy can be a path into the soul. Deep at the bottom of each of us is that spark of eternity that can only be ignited by the gift of faith. It is my hope that these poems will encourage the reader to examine that divine mystery that is planted deep within us by the very Word of God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781639030293

Book preview

The Beginning

Mt. 1:1–17

The story begins with Abraham

his descendants number more than the billions of bright stars

that move through the night dark sky

or the uncountable grains of sand that crawl from the depths of the salty sea.

Jesse’s youngest son David takes crown and country

then generations abound again and again

until Joseph accepts Mary with her child,

who would be born under a singular star

and walk the rocky shores of Galilee.

The Birth of Jesus

Mt.1:18–25

Looking to the Holy Spirit of God, Mary is found with child.

From the depths of Abraham’s line

the Lord’s messenger generates the notion

in sleeping Joseph, to build a home for this child.

Under the shadow of David’s kingdom

and the loving arms of his virgin mother

awaking Joseph is commanded to name his son, Jesus.

The Visit of the Wise Men

Mt. 2:1–12

This birth was bigger than Bethlehem.

From the East these three came

on kingly business asking the local monarch

directions to the prophesied King of the Jews.

In the end they found him under a star:

a shining ruler to shepherd Israel.

They discovered their true treasure in

a Bethlehem house.

Leaving their earthly gifts behind

and walking as if in a dream

made their way home another way, transformed.

The Flight into Egypt

Mt. 2:13–15

As darkness descended on this infant family,

once again behind closed eyes

an alarm awakened Joseph.

"Arise and run,

protect your son."

They fled and did not stop until Egypt.

Herod Slaughters the Children

Mt. 2:16–18

From Herod’s anger rose loud lamentation and slaughter.

Infant boys bleeding death.

Stars and gifts and treasures all lost.

Cries and crying and empty bloody cribs

all for the jealous king.

The Return Home

Mt. 2:19–23

Alert to God’s will Joseph surveys his dreams.

Living his mission of protecting the child Jesus and his mother.

From the foreign sanctuary of Egypt

he is called by an angel to return to his homeland.

Cautioned by fear and directed in a dream

Father Joseph settles his family in the neighborhood of Nazareth.

John the Baptist

Mt. 3:1–12

John of locusts and wild honey,

a wilderness man decrying the crookedness of the world,

stood on the slippery round rocks of the Jordan to preach,

balancing the old and new testaments.

Penitents came confessing their sins,

these fruitless trees of Jerusalem

looking to an unworthy sandal carrier to pray

that the axe would not strike at their roots.

The Baptism

Mt. 3:13–17

It was the water that drew them.

In a dry rocky land even John’s shallow Jordan

looked like a mighty river,

where the Creator once watered the thirsting earth.

Baptism was the key that unlocked the heavens

and set free the Word of God,

the beloved Son,

beginning his reign.

The Temptation

Mt. 4:1–11

The descending Spirit above the Jordan

now leads Jesus into desert isolation for forty days and