God

In the Norwegian church in Florida

A Danish man tells that his first love
was a finnish cleaning lady with a knife in her purse
at a hotel in Helsingør 1974
I take a mouthful of steaming coffee and nod listening
translating his accent into swedish
palm trees outside wallow in the wind
blue stained glass surrounds us
and bouquets of white lilies
beneath the portrait of the princess

(R)evolution

(A Palestinian liberation theology)

God is a Palestinian man
On the town square in Nablus
Selling oranges and olive oil 
To feed the family

Truth is a man from Nazareth
In him the Godhead dwells in full
This is a mystery and a shock
This is objective truth

God reigns the sea of Galilee
God is as a fisher at your door
Salvation is a free gift of grace
By faith you receive your life jacket

We live outside of Eden
Stuck in the gutter of sin
All of our friends are already dead
Without Christ we would grow old alone

I am a Palestinian man
God dwells in me
I have received salvation by grace
I am lonely but never alone

Beautiful painting by palestinian artist Ismail Shammout

The theory of evolution of liberal christians

Christians laugh when I read them the Bible
“Such a thing God never said!”, they say.
“And if he did – he didn’t mean it like that!”, they add.
“But if he meant it like that, then you’re taking it out of context!” they scoff.
“Well, if it’s in context, the Bible isn’t literal!”, they mock.
But they only mock the Lord God who said it.


Saintly flesh

Humans are candlesticks
they get hot when they carry the flame
of God within like ingnited Spirit
the children of the Lord Sebaoth
indwelled by the jet fuel of faith
in order to breath the gospel into
the dying lung of this world
hell or heaven bound
the eternal confrontation
in the backyard of Fort Europa
where the immigrant hoards are roaming like starved hyenas
for saintly flesh

Youth


With gypsy friends in the brick ghetto
A closet built recording studio and a new mic
After six beers and a cup of coffee
Cigarettes and valium 
Successfully self-medicated
Beat making and freestyling
A christian painting on the closet wall
With doves and broken handcuffs 
Home made tattoos in my skin like snake bites
We had hidden plantations and vandalism fines
Park bench hangouts by the grill
Robbery interrogation on a Thursday
Praying at night in the swedish no-go zone
With a gold crucifix from a pawn shop
Around my rough neck