Glory, Too E-Book

Nikki Grimes

• Herausgeber: Paraclete Press
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 77

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, and New York Times bestselling author Nikki Grimes introduces Glory, Too, a soul-stirring collection of poetry that delves into the depths of faith, hope, and the human experience by one of America's preeminent black poets. In a marriage of poetry, faith, and worship, Ms. Grimes' poems illuminate the Scriptures that grace every Sunday of the year. Her inimitable voice and imagination offer glimpses of glory we might not otherwise see, throughout the seasons of the year. With lyrical precision and spiritual insight, she invites readers on a journey of reflection, weaving together themes of grace, redemption, and the enduring power of God's love throughout the year. As the companion volume to her previous book Glory in the Margins: Sunday Poems, Glory, Too resonates with authenticity and depth, giving testimony to the transformative power of poetry and the enduring hope found in the embrace of God's eternal grace. High Style Louboutin stilettos are recognizable at a distance. Those shiny red soles tell you everything. When Gucci handbags are in a room, they virtually shout. Now, I'm not much for labels, but I've noticed how God's garments stand out. Take the suit, a second skin made of holiness—a rare fabric, that usually itches, at first until the wearer gets used to it; Beyond that, God's personal style is all about the layered look: the silk of compassion, golden threads of kindness woven through the vest, humility cinching in the waist, meekness and patience falling to the ankles, and love thickly draped across the shoulders. The clothing God designs is never mistaken for anyone's but his. And when we're wise enough to don his attire, we look like more than a million.

Leseprobe

Praise for GLORY, TOO

“Here are poems that come from within the soul. Nikki Grimes is not just a disciple and believer, she is the voice of the beloved. Her work points the reader in the direction of salvation. One will shout hallelujah or quietly say amen when turning the pages of Glory, Too. After reading the poetry of Nikki Grimes one has a strong desire to go out into the world and spread the good news.”

—E. Ethelbert Miller, writer and literary activist, 2023 Grammy Nominee in the category of spoken word and poetry

“Nikki Grimes’ poems are like a magnifying glass held up to the Scriptures, helping us see more closely and clearly. They are like a prism, revealing colors previously hidden to our busy eyes. They call us to align ourselves with a holy direction. In one poem she invites us to ‘say yes to the jewel that is Jesus,’ and by the end of the collection my heart was overflowing with this yes.”

—Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Online Abbess of Abbey of the Arts and author of more than 20 books on the contemplative path

“Author C. S. Lewis insisted that a good poet doesn’t say, ‘look at me’; a good poet says ‘look at that’—and points. This is exactly what Nikki Grimes has done in this collection. Get ready to see things in the Scriptures that you’ve never noticed before. Patterns and metaphors, images and insights, the tiny, tiny seed in the fertile soil of your heart. Nikki is a wayfinder, my friends. Don’t miss the invitation to join her on the journey.”

—Sarah Arthur, author of Between Midnight and Dawn: A Literary Guide to Prayer for Lent, Holy Week, and Eastertide

“Devotional, emotional and crystalline, the poems of Nikki Grimes’ Glory, Too are thoughtful meditations on important Biblical verses. Her poetry will excite young readers still absorbing the beauty and the messages of the Bible, but it will also make longtime students of the Bible see familiar passages with a fresh eye.”

—A. M. Juster, poet, author of Wonder and Wrath

For Kendall Buchanan, the brother of my heart

2025 First Printing

Glory, Too: Poems

ISBN 978-1-64060-964-8

Copyright © 2025 by Nikki Grimes

The Iron Pen name and logo are trademarks of Paraclete Press.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Grimes, Nikki, author.

Title: Glory, too: poems / Nikki Grimes.

Description: Brewster, Massachusetts: Iron Pen/Paraclete Press, 2024.

Summary: “In a marriage of poetry, faith, and worship, Ms. Grimes’ poems illuminate the Scriptures that grace every Sunday of the year. Her inimitable voice and imagination offer glimpses of glory we might not otherwise see, throughout the seasons of the year” -- Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2024036535 (print) | LCCN 2024036536 (ebook) | ISBN 9781640609648 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9781640609655 (epub)

Subjects: LCGFT: Religious poetry.

Classification: LCC PS3557.R489982 G58 2024 (print) | LCC PS3557.R489982 (ebook) | DDC 811/.54--dc23/eng/20240823

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024036535

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024036536

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in an electronic retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any \other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published by Paraclete Press

Brewster, Massachusetts

www.paracletepress.com

Printed in The United States of America

CONTENTS

SPRING

Worship Walking

Allegiance

Harmonious

Math Mystery

X-Ray Vision

Rebel Rabbi

Kryptonite

Where Meaning Resides

Conundrum

Paradox on Parade

Glimpse of Glory

Familiar

The Dawn of Despair

Jewel

Cocky

Reverence

Source

Fool’s Errand

Shadowed Perspective

Angel Talk

Holy Architecture

Trouble Makers

Woman Calling

Unvarnished Healing

Proof

Bones to Pick

Dark Torches

The Problem of Evil

SUMMER

Wading In

Greed

Infinite Surprise

Daily Delusions

Waiting for the Word

Divine Adventure

Haiti

High Style

Fish Fry

Road Trip

On the Way

Summer Blockbuster

Renovation

Relentless

Potter’s Business

Clever Choices

Pursuit of Peace

Looking for the Exit

Broken

Noah Spins

FALL

Imaginary Numbers

Particular Perfection

Hold Hope

Words and Will

Jenga

Eden Tells Us

Sound the Trumpet

Neighborly

In Search of Wiggle Room

Flip the Switch

Conflicting Comforts

The Real

Sturdy Steed

Ambush

Reputation

Scarred Service

Zacchaeus

Abide

Attentive

To Hear Paul Tell It

Whatever

Our Hunger Satisfied

WINTER

Strength Is Ours

Word

Weaponry

School Is In

Heavenly Haute Couture

Consequential Choices

Mystical Moments

A Magi Speaks

Nazareth Surprise

No Damascus Road

The Glory Story

Human Wisdom

Purpose

Seed

Priestly Profession

Reality Check

Under Reconstruction

How’s My Driving?

Unfair Trade

No Apology

Searching for Amen

Tender Mercies

SPRING

Worship Walking

The word “worship”

trips so easily off the tongue.

I worship. You worship.

We worship together.

What could be better?

But worship is weightier,

never confined to the harmonies

of hymns wafting in the rafters

of the meeting house,

or swaying to the rhythms of the choir

when the whole congregation

is lost in the lyrics

of grace and salvation.

True worship is

sanctifying ourselves,

sacrificing our bodies,

submitting our hearts and minds

for total transformation,

by God. For God.

He’s the only one able

to perform such

complex conversions.

Our part is to let him,

which is easier said than done.

Our wills always

get in the way.

So where do we begin?

By breathing this in:

Worship is living into

“I surrender all.”

Romans 12:1–2

Allegiance

False gods and false prophets

run rampant in the world,

their tongues comfortably curled

around the latest lies.

Their motives may defy our logic,

but God’s truth rests

with those spirits who confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord.

And what is confession?

Words without weight,

or a life lived as witness

to the Son, the Holy one, the Christ?

In today’s vernacular,

confession is

the reluctant acknowledgment

of guilt, of sin,

of that for which

we are ashamed.

But we who test the spirits by the Spirit,

who rightly divide the word of truth

lived and spoken by

the Carpenter-King—

we are not ashamed, or reluctant.

We are workmen and women

prepared to give a reason

for the hope that is within us.

We declare our allegiance to the Lord

for we cannot begin

to live or love like him

otherwise.

1 John 4:1–6

Harmonious

John was confounded when the Lord

presented himself at the river Jordan

alongside those whose souls

were desperate for cleansing.

But in one sense, I suppose

it was a small thing

to be buried in the waters of baptism

when burial in a tomb was not far off,

and both would end by rising

Beloved Son,

the sinless One,

the Lord of all.

A humble act

for the King of Glory,

just one more way

to stand with humanity,

to climb into our skin

as if our sins were his own—

a servant to the end.

No wonder the Father was pleased.

Is it too much, then, that we

Gentiles of every hue and nation,

who celebrate the nonpartisan

Good News of God’s great gift,

should be called to live lives

in harmony with Him,

and to sing together

Hallelujah?

Matthew 3:13–17, Acts 10:34–43

Math Mystery

Mark and the other insiders

kept a careful catalog

of the Lord’s provision.

Four thousand fed here,

five thousand fed there.

Even so, they eventually

lost count

You might as well

try to tally

the grains of sand

that edge the sea

as track the Lord’s

miraculous provision.

After all,

Jehovah-Jireh is

his middle name.

Yet, the minute need

rings our doorbell,

we stare down at

our empty hands,

rather than look

to the God-man

who holds the pitcher of plenty,

ready to pour it out

should any believer ask.

Blind as we can be,

I wonder when we

will finally understand

that little is much

in God’s hand.

Mark 8:14–26

X-Ray Vision

“Keep your eye on the curtain,”

says the magician,

and while we do,

he cleverly disappears.

The ruse works every time

because we trust what we see.

But God reminds us,

that’s not the half of it.

More than magician,

God sees into our hearts

and far into the future

he, alone, created.

Hide and seek was never

a game for the Lord,

as Philip learned.

Jesus said, “Follow me,”

and the new disciple headed out

to spread the word, keen to share it

with one Nathanael, who Jesus saw

before Philip ever found him.

“Where did you get to know me?”

asked Nathanael, mistaking Jesus

for someone with limits.

And even when he realized

Jesus was God and King,

he failed to see the future greatness

God had in mind to do.

Like me and you,

Nathanael was too focused

on the mystery of that moment.

But not to worry.

Jesus says, “Keep your eye on me.

In good time,

all will be revealed.”

John 1:43–51

Rebel Rabbi

Thirsty for conversation,

Jesus goes to the well,

engages the woman there

in a lengthy chat

—a spiritual faux-pas—

a Jew talking up a Samaritan,

and a woman at that!

“I’ll trade you a spring of living water

for a drink from the well,” he says.

Seeing Jesus without pail or bucket,

she snickers a bit,

wondering exactly how

he plans to perform the magic trick

of lifting water from a well.

“Are you greater than

our ancestor Jacob

who gave us this well?” she asks,

her question rhetorical.

But this stranger from Galilee