Rhyming Redsong: Matthew Cover Designs

Psalm 23, Final

The LORD, my shepherd, is, I, nothing, lack.
Me, downwards lie in pastures, green, he makes.
The quiet waters, he leads me beside,
my soul refreshed. Along the paths, those right,
he guides me for his name’s sake. Though I walk
the valley, through it, e’en that one most dark,
I will no evil, fear, for you’re with me;
your rod and staff are comforting to me.

Before me, there, a table, you prepare,
my enemies, a place where they’re aware.
My head with oil, anoint, that’s what you do;
it overflows, my cup. For surely, your
love, goodness, both of them will, me, pursue
all of the days of my life, and I will,
fore’er in heaven in the LORD’s house, dwell.

Rhyming Redsong: Matthew 24 (Jesus Makes Apocalyptic Predictions)

The temple, Jesus left, and walked away,
when his disciples, up to him, they came,
to call attention, his, to buildings, its.
“Do you see all these things?” to them, he quizzed.
“I tell you truly, not one single stone
here will be left, another, on; each, one,
and ev’ry, of them will be downwards thrown.”

As Jesus made the Olives’ Mount his seat,
disciples, the, came to him privately.
“Tell us when this will happen,” what, said, they,
“and what sign will, your coming, indicate,
and also of the ending of the age?”

Then Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one
deceives you. Many, for, to you will come
in my name, and, ‘I’m the Messiah’, claim,
and, many, will, their fraudulence, deceive.
Of wars, reports and rumors, you’ll receive,
but, to it that you are, alarmed, not, see.
Such things must happen, but the end is still
to come. Against each other, nations will
rise, kingdom ‘gainst another kingdom wars.
Both famines, too, and quakings of the earth,
in, places, various. And all these are
just the beginning of the pains of birth.

“Then, to be persecuted, put to death,
you will be handed over, and you will
be hated, ‘cause of me, by nations, all.
At that time many will turn, from, away,
the faith, and hate each other, too, betray,
and many prophets, false, they will appear,
and many people, they’ll deceive, for sure.
Because of wickedness, its growing sum,
the love of most will grow cold, but the one
who stands firm to the end, saved, he will be.
And then, in the whole world, this gospel preached,
that of the kingdom, as, to, nations, all,
a testimony, then the end, come, will.

“So when you, in the holy place, observe
‘abomination, the’, who’s standing there,
‘that causes desolation,’ who’s referred
to by the prophet, Daniel, through his words–
the reader, let him understand–then let
those who are in Judea, to their clefts,
flee to the mountains’. Let no one go down,
who’s on the housetop, to take, of the house,
out, anything. Let no one in the field
go back to get their cloak. How it will be
for pregnant women, dreadful, in those days,
and nursing mothers! That your flight won’t, pray,
take place in winter, on the Sabbath day.
For then there will, distress, be that is great,
unequaled from the world’s beginnings till
now–and what, equaled, be, again, ne’er will.

“No one, survive, would, if they had not been
cut short, those days, for that of the elect,
their sake, they will be shortened in their length.
At that time, anyone, if to you, says,
‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or instead,
“There he is!’, do not, it, believe, their claim.
For as the lightning that comes from the east
is even visible out in the west,
so will be that, the coming of the Son
of Man. Wherever there’s a carcass found,
there will be vultures gathering around.

“Immediately after the distress
of those days, ‘the sun’s light will be suppressed,
the moon won’t any longer give its light;
the stars will fall from their place in the sky,
and shaken, will be bodies, heavenly.’

“Then will the sign of him, the Son of Man
appear in heaven. And, of the earth, then,
the peoples, all, will mourn when they see him,
the Son of Man who’s coming on the clouds
of heaven, with great glory, too, and pow’r.
And he will send his angels with a loud
call of the trumpet, and, from the four winds,
they’ll gather his elect, from one of them,
the heavens’ ends out to their other end.”

“Now from the fig tree, learn this lesson well:
As soon as its twigs, tender, get, and they’ll
come out, its leaves, you know that summer’s near.
E’en so, when, these things, to you, would appear,
you know that it is near, right at the door.
I tell you, truly, they’ll not pass away,
this generation, until all these things
have happened. Earth and heaven, pass away,
will, but my words will never pass away.

“But no one knows about that day or hour,
not even angels who in heaven soar,
nor does the Son, but only him above,
the Father. Noah’s days, in, as it was,
at that, the Son of Man’s, so it will be,
his coming. Two men will be in the field
together, one of them will be retrieved,
the other one left solitarily.
Two women with a hand mill making grist,
one will be taken, and the other, left.

“Therefore keep watch, because you’re not informed,
on what day that he’ll come again, your Lord.
But, understand this: If he would have known
at what time in the night, who owned the home,
the thief was coming, he would have, watch, kept,
and, broken into, his house be, not let.
So also you must be prepared, alert,
because the Son of Man, when he will come,
an hour that you are not expecting him.

“Who is the wise and faithful servant then,
he, whom the master’s put in charge of them,
the servants in his household to provide
their food to them at that, the proper time?
That servant, for, it’s good, whose master finds
him doing so when he returns. I tell
you truly, he, in charge, put him, of all,
will, his possessions. But suppose that if
that servant’s wicked and says to himself,
‘Away, my master’s staying a long time,’
and he, his fellow servants, then begins
to beat, and drunkards, with them, eats and drinks.
The master of that servant will come on
a day when he does not expect him and,
an hour, at, that is not of his design.
To pieces, he will, up, that servant, slice
and him, with hypocrites, a place, assign
where, weeping, gnashing of the teeth, you’ll find.”

Rhyming Redsong: Matthew 23 (Seven Woes To the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law)

Then Jesus said this to the crowds around,
and also to, disciples, his, aloud:

“The teachers of the law and Pharisees,
those who are sitting there, in Moses’ seat.
You must be careful to do everything
they tell you to do. But you should refrain
from what they do, for, practice, they do not,
what they preach. Their loads are both heavy, great,
they’re cumbersome; they tie them up and place
them, other people’s shoulders, on, but they
themselves aren’t willing, to alleviate
a single finger, lift, the burden, to.

“For people to see, everything they do,
is done: they make phylacteries, their, wide,
and they, their garments’ tassels’ length, extend;
they love the place of honor, banquets, at,
and, in the synagogues, important seats,
the most; they love it when you, them, would greet,
out in the marketplace, with great respect,
and to be called, by others, ‘Rabbi.’ But
you are not to be, ‘Rabbi’, called, for just
one Teacher, you have, and you, brothers, all,
are. And don’t anyone here, ‘father’, call,
on earth, for you, a single Father, have,
and it’s in heaven, that place where he lives.
Nor are you to be, e’er, instructors, called,
for only one Instructor that you have,
him, the Messiah. He among you all
who is the greatest will your servant be.
For they’ll be humbled, who, themselves, exalt,
and those, themselves, who humble, you will see,
they’ll be exalted, honored, be, they will.

“You teachers of the law and Pharisees,
woe to you for your gross hypocrisy!
In people’s faces, how it is you shut
the door of heaven’s kingdom. You do not
yourselves, there, enter, nor will you permit
those others’ entrance who make the attempt.

“You teachers of the law and Pharisees,
woe to you for your gross hypocrisy!
To win, you travel o’er the land and sea,
a single convert, and when you succeed,
you make them twice as much, again, a child
of hell as you are. Woe to you, blind guides!
You say, ‘If, by the temple, swear, would anyone,
that nothing is what that commitment means,
but if someone swears by the temple’s gold,
then binding is the nature of their oath.’
You blind fools! Which is greater: first, the gold,
or that, the temple, by which, sacred, made,
it is? You also say, ‘If anyone
would, by the altar swear, naught would it mean;
but anyone who’d swear by that, the gift,
the altar, on, they’re bound by it, that oath.
You blind men! Which, its greatness, is it more:
the gift you place upon the altar or,
the altar that, the gift, will, sacred, make?
Therefore, if any, by the altar, swears,
swears by it and aught that on it might lay.
And, whoe’er, by the temple, swears, as well
swears by it, too, the one who in it dwells.
And any who by heaven they would swear,
swears by God’s throne, the one who’s sitting there.’

“You teachers of the law and Pharisees,
woe to you for your gross hypocrisy!
You give a tenth of all your spices, herbs–
mint, dill, and cumin. But what you ignore,
the, matters of the law, important, most–
to render justice, mercy, faithfulness.
The latter ones, you should have practiced them,
while none of them, the former, you’d neglect.
You blind guides! You would outwards strain a gnat,
but swallow whole a camel like a snack.

“You teachers of the law and Pharisees,
woe to you for your gross hypocrisy!
The outside of the cup and dish, you clean,
but they, inside, are filled up with great greed
and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee!
First, clean the inside of the cup and dish,
and then your outside, clean, condition, its.

“You teachers of the law and Pharisees,
woe to you for your gross hypocrisy!
You are like whitewashed tombs, which, beautiful,
look, on the outside, but inside they’re full
with bones, the dead’s, and everything unclean.
In the same way, as righteous, you will seem
to people on the outside, but inside
you, wickedness, hypocrisy reside.

“You teachers of the law and Pharisees,
woe to you for your gross hypocrisy!
You build tombs for the prophets, decorate
the gravesites of the righteous. And you say,
‘If we had lived in our ancestors’ days,
we never would, a part, in that, e’er played
with them in shedding any prophet’s blood.’
So testify against yourselves, you would,
that you’re descendants of those ones who had,
the prophets, murdered. Go ahead, then and
complete what you ancestors once began!

“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How, you, will,
escape your condemnation into hell?
Therefore, I’m sending prophets out to you,
with sages, also teachers, tell the truth.
Some of them you will kill and crucify;
and others, in your synagogues, you’ll flay,
and, them, you will pursue from town to town.
And so, on you, will all of it come down,
the righteous blood that’s e’er, on earth, been shed,
to that of him, from righteous Abel’s blood,
the blood of Zechariah, he’s the son
of Berekiah whom you murdered there,
between the temple and the altar, where.
I tell you truly, all of this will come
this generation, on. Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, you who, the prophets, kill,
and stone those sent to you, this, how I feel:
how often I have longed to gather them,
your children, all together, as a hen
would gather up, beneath her wings, her chicks,
and you were willing, not. Look, your house is
left to you, desolate. For I confess,
you won’t see me again until these words,
about the prophets, that you would say, ‘Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

The Queen Who Died of Love

Once was a queen, there in Bohemia,
the gentle sister of the King of Thule.
Her beauty, other queens’, exceeding theirs,
was solely by her beauty that she ruled.

That troubadour, the great Bohemian,
one autumn evening that was red and sad,
he murmured, ‘I love you!’, the old refrain.
O foolish souls and hearts, by love, are crazed!

The pure white beauty, what it is she’d know?
She, by the gentle poet, was loved so
that at that very instant, her white soul
expired and to the stars, did upwards float.

The great bells ringing in Bohemia,
and too, the small ones, in Thule’s skies, above,
for her the last “Hosannas” singing, pealed,
they’re mourning for the Queen who died of love.

T. H. Chalm (1967-2015)

Rhyming Redsong: Matthew 22 (The Parable of the Wedding Banquet; Paying Caesar’s Tax; the Resurrection; Jesus Silences the Jewish Leaders)

To them, again, in parables he spoke,
with Jesus saying, “Heaven’s kingdom’s like
a king who had a wedding feast prepared.
He sent his servants to those who, been, had,
invited to the feast to tell to them
that they should come, but they refused to come.

“Then he sent some more servants and he said,
‘Tell those who have, invited, been, I, that,
my dinner, have prepared: My oxen and
my fattened cattle all have, butchered, been,
and everything is ready. Now, to, come,
the wedding feast.’ But, went off, each of them,
and no attention any of them paid–
one to his field, one to his business place.
The rest, his servants, seized, and them, disgraced,
and killed them. At this, the king was enraged.
He sent his army and, those murderers,
destroyed, and, to the ground, their city, burned.

“Then he said to his servants, ‘It’s prepared,
the wedding banquet, but, did not deserve
to come, those whom I had invited there.
So to the corners, street, go and invite,
the banquet, to, just anyone you find.’
So out they went, the servants to the streets
and gathered all the people they could see,
both those, the bad, as well as them, the good,
and up with guests, the wedding hall was filled.

“But when the king came in, the guests, to know,
he noticed a man there, his wedding clothes,
he wasn’t wearing. Of him, the king asked,
‘How did you get in here without them, friend,
your wedding clothes?’ And speechless was the man.

“Then the king told attendants, the, ‘Tie him
both by his hand and foot, and then expel,
throw him out to the darkness where there will
be weeping, also gnashing of the teeth.’

“For many are invited to the feast,
but few are those who’re chosen, there, to eat.”

Then, out, the Pharisees went, and laid plans
to trap him in his words. They sent to him
disciples, their, with the Herodians
along. They, “Teacher,” said, “we know that you
are a man of integrity, the truth,
you teach the way of God, according to.
You are not swayed by others ‘cause you pay
attention, none of your, to who, are, they.
Please, then, what’s your opinion, to us, say?
Is it right for us Jews, that tax, to pay,
imperial, to Cesar, yay or nay?”

But Jesus knowing, evil, their, intent,
said, “Why do you, to trap me, this, attempt?”
Show me the coin you use, the tax, to pay.”
They brought him a denarius. “Whose face,
whose image is this, whose inscription writ?”
Replied, they, “Caesar’s.” To them, he said this:
“So give to Caesar back that which is his,
to Caesar, and to God that which is God’s.”

When they heard this, they greatly were amazed,
so then they left him, and they went away.

The Sadducees, that same day, those who say
there is no Resurrection, to him came
with, question, a. “Good teacher,” what they said,
“as Moses told, a man would die, that if,
without, some children, having, brothers, his,
must marry her, the widow, and, up, raise,
some offspring for him. Now ‘mongst us once lived
some brothers, seven. Was, the first one, wed,
and then he died, and since he, children, had
no, he left his wife to his brother and
the same thing happened to the brother, next,
as well the third, until the seventh, last,
to him. The woman fin’lly died. Now at
the resurrection whose wife will she be,
the seven, of, since, brothers, all of these,
were, to her, married?” Jesus, this, intoned:

“You are in error ‘cause you do not know
the Scriptures or the pow’r that God can show.
The resurrection, at, the people will
not marry nor, in marriage, be impelled;
be like the angels, heavenly, they will.
But ‘bout the resurrection of the dead,
have you not, what God said to you, e’er read?
‘I am the God of Abraham, the God
of Isaac, and of Jacob, I’m his God’?
He is not, of the dead, the God, but of
the living.” When the crowds heard this, were, they,
astonished at his teaching and his ways.

That Jesus silenced them, the Sadducees,
when they had heard of this, the Pharisees,
they got together. One of them who was
an expert in the law, him, tested, with
this question: “Teacher, in the Law, which is
the greatest of them, the commandments, all?”

Replied, he, Jesus: “‘Love the Lord your God,
with all your heart, with all your soul and mind.’
Of the commandments, this one is the first,
and also is the greatest of the list.
And, too, the second is like it as well:
‘Your neighbor, love, as you would love yourself.’
All of the Law and Prophets hang on these
commandments, two.” While they, the Pharisees,
were gathered all together, Jesus asked
them, “What do you, ‘bout the Messiah, think?
Whose son is he?” This, they, to him, replied:
“The son of David.” He, to them, this, spake:

“Then how is it that David, speaking by
the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For what he says:

“‘The Lord said to my Lord the following:
“Sit at my right hand till your enemies,
I put them, subject to you, ‘neath your feet.”’

“If David then calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he
be his son?” No one could say further words,
reply, in, and from that day on, none dared
to ever ask him any, questions, more.