The Book of Revelation: A Class Lesson

during the years i taught scripture to adults—
i would tell them this is my favorite book
and for that lesson i would play handel’s messiah:
this is what revelation would sound like if put to music
the alleluia chorus got king george to stand up
but this . . .
this is adoration in D major
then  i would sit down . . .
worthy is the lamb hung in the silence 
as if the voices’ trumpet was praying
and it was
i would close my eyes
both lost and found until the end . . .
now that is the book of revelation
i would end the class with my own theory
the new testament needed the liturgical pulse of the psalms 
singing how long o Lord how long
singing praise and adoration under the branding iron of rome
today it still sings

—Sr. Lou Ella Hickman

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Asters

James Matthew Wilson

The asters bloom amid late-summer heat,Low-lying stars that will not linger longAnd bend their sprays beneath the…

To Live Fittingly

Elizabeth C. Corey

Why do the humanities face such a hostile climate? In part it’s because academics have excluded ordinary,…

Early Arrival

Susan Spear

Last year we laid squares of sodDown in our bare yard. At first,Pale, slender spears grew tall…