“As Barth”: Entry #6

The sixth entry in the contest comes from Ben Myers (of Faith & Theology), whose poetic prowess we have already seen on display at his blog (here, here, and here). His latest poem takes its bearings from the famous poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, “God’s Grandeur.”

Barth’s Grandeur
Barth’s brain was charged with the grandeur of thought,
It swirled out, like soap suds in the sink,
It smeared reams of paper like the ooze of ink
Spilt. Must we all then follow him?
Generations adored, abhorred, or fought his thrall;
Moltmann went beyond him, Pannenberg disproved him,
Torrance hung awe-rapt on every word: and all
Of us (brains small, confused and dim) cobble systems fat or slim.

Yet for all this, God does not fling us off;
He crouches at our systems’ edge, peers hungrily through holes,
Sneak-watching for the moment when we sigh and say
“Oh, bugger! all these thoughts I can’t command” –
Then breathless as a madman or a child, God lunges,
And tumbling floorward fall our thoughts, while we fall into ah! safe hands.


The contest will end on July 4, at which point we will have a poll to decide who is the winner. If you wish to enter the contest, email me here. See the original post for more information.