And The Carpenter Came! Poem by James Tipp

And the Carpenter Came...

A subversive Jesus! please wait outside
Talk to me after the orchestra have finished
The procession passed, and the servants,
Dressed as they are in splendour and pomp
Have taken their seats with dignity.
Whilst the congregation stood in silence.

I listened but no one said “come up higher”
So should I really be here at all in the line up.
In the world they say Master and Lord
It shall not be so with you, an echo of subversion,
From a carpenter who was only invited, allowed in
So he could fix the stage for those in fine robes.

Here a fisherman’s friend is sucked, not followed
The power of priesthood re-instated, intermediaries
Standing so the people can see the godhead.
Forgetting too often that he is the living one
Who ever stands before us, goes before us
But we have become the curtain restorers.

The people cannot see or hear his words
Because of the signals that are distorted
Paradox reigns, masters hiding behind servant words
Dressed to kill, we kill the message, the truth hidden
Inside our pomp and ceremony, a carpenter waits
To remove the stage and go his way, saddened.