Recounting a rather remarkable life

The Prince is dead!
Long live his memory!
A Royal refugee.
A Greek Adonis.
A Queen’s consort.
A house husband
in the House of Windsor.

A complicated companion
in a complex institution
deemed outdated by many.
This great-grandson
of Queen Victoria
and great-grandfather
to an American prince
will be remembered as one
who married a princess
once upon a time
a very long time ago.

By God’s grace,
may she live happily ever after.
Long live the Queen!
God save the Queen!
God comfort the Queen!

A new hymn text for Resurrection Sunday

Easter breaks. Our faith is stirring.
Hope awakens with the dawn.
Fear of death that held us hostage
bows to Truth that bids us on.
We’ve been vaccinated fully
from the dread of dark despair.
We can confidently worship
One whose Spirit fills the air.

Easter breaks. A new day beckons.
We’ve no cause to mask our joy.
Christ is risen! Hallelujah!
Christ has leveled Satan’s ploy.
We’re not prisoners any longer.
Though our eyes may close in death,
through Christ’s resurrection power
we will claim eternal breath.

Easter breaks. Our world is broken.
Yet Christ’s promise still is heard.
He will never, ever, leave us.
Of His Spirit we’re assured.
Peace for which we long as Christians,
will be given in God’s time.
And when plagued by global chaos,
we can trust God’s grand design.

by Greg Asimakoupoulos
tune: Ode to Joy

A celebration of Springtime

Spring is nature’s way of saying,
“Death gives way to life.”
The dark and cold of winter’s grave
gives in to warmth and light.

What once was lifeless, bare and brown
erupts in pink and red.
The yellows of those bulb-born blooms
announce new birth instead.

Yes, spring invites us to resist
the pull of past regrets.
There’s glory in a crocus choir.
What’s past we can forget.

“Unwrap the gift of new beginnings!”
Spring shouts loud and clear.
“Use your senses. Praise your Maker!
The Master Artist’s here.”

Celebrating a somber season of trust

It’s a journey that leads
to the crux of our faith
as we take up our cross day by day.
Acknowledging weakness,
confessing our need
we embrace all God wills as we pray.

Through the desert with Jesus
we walk step by step
well aware of temptations to doubt.
We stumble at times,
but we fall on God’s grace
as we puzzle to figure things out.

It’s a time for reflection,
for looking inside,
well aware of where this journey ends.
The shadow of death
creeps across what we fear,
but the outcome surprises God’s friends.

At the end of the tunnel
there is cause to rejoice.
But for now we trek on as we wait
for that day we call Easter
when the dawn’s early light
will reveal God’s on time (never late).

*This poem was written for my friend Doug Thomas while awaiting a heart transplant.

Prince Harry and Meghan make waves

That interview we watched last week
gave us an unexpected peek
at what it’s like at Buckingham
behind the drapes and doors.

While Meghan dished on what she’d faced,
Prince Harry claimed he’d been disgraced.
They gave low marks to Britain’s best.
It was a royal shaft.

As Oprah quizzed the royal pair,
A royal tension filled the air.
The Sussex twosome spoke quite frank
of Windsor woes and more.

They spilled the beans ‘bout racial hate
that hides behind the Palace gate.
They candidly confessed their pain
while honoring the Queen.

Diana’s youngest boy (now grown)
compared his plight to what she’d known.
A frenzied state of constant stress
that’s governed by “The Firm.”

So what is false? And what is true?
What claims are old? Which ones are new?
I wonder if the monarchy
can weather such a storm?