Duane W. Udd
Honorable Mention 2007 Christian Publishers Poetry Prize $20
Off and on, since 1962, I have been writing mostly "Message Poetry."
My only published book, A Tale of Woe, is mostly polemical poetry relating to the nation of Zimbabwe where we have been missionaries for over two decades. I still write about Zimbabwe and read the resulting poems on my radio program, "Different Points of View," out of London, Tuesdays, on www.swradioafrica.com.
A significant aspect of my perspective is based on awareness that most people do not readily recognize something as poetry unless it has identifiable rhythm and rhyme. Rather than looking down on this limitation, I have rather seen it as a challenge to pack as much meaning as possible into this medium, in order to have to have the widest, if unpretentious, impact.
The Shape of Things to Come
God’s army rises from the earth
Prophetic word commands
To prove its mettle and its worth
When Spirit-filled it stands
The hordes of darkness will take flight
And dread the final hour
When saints of God will walk in light
And demonstrate His power
His timeless temple now takes shape
Untouched by human hand
And men will stand in awe to gape
When glory fills the land
No sound of hammer will be heard
As stones are put in place
No earthly mortar will be stirred
For living stones of grace
When body members fused by love
With hearts that beat as one
Are fitly formed by God above
The work is almost done
For living temple must ascend
When trump shall raise the dead
Archangel voice the air will rend
As body joins its head
Copyright ©2007 by Duane W. Udd