I always rewrite this poem a bit, just before Easter.
EVERY EASTER
Easter service is over
and my ears ring Hallelujah
as the congregation is released
into a bright spring day
but there are joggers in the street
and Tiger baseball on the radio.
One neighbor mows his lawn
while another paints a shutter,
and no one seems to understand—
how can they not understand? —
that everything has changed
and I am dismayed but then realize
it was like this in Jerusalem, too,
that first Easter Sunday,
the whole town grateful
for a bit of peace and quiet
after all the commotion
over those two common thieves
and that noisy preacher,
the one from Nazareth.
My early Easter memories consist of dressing in our Sunday-best for church at Central Reformed in Grand Rapids, my sister in an Easter bonnet, my mother and grandmother wearing stylish hats. Resurrection was a proper noun for our family on Easter. After church we gathered for dinner at my Aunt Jac and Uncle Carl’s house in East Grand Rapids. The main dish was usually ham served with Aunt Jac’s raisin sauce. This recipe was passed on to me by my mother, and she was somewhat vague as to the exact quantity of some items . . . I have done my best.
Aunt Jac’s Raisin Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups water
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 stick of cinnamon
- cloves (4 or 5, discard before serving)
- raisins (A half-cup? They will expand greatly.)
- ½ cup vinegar (white or cider)
Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce to a low simmer and stir occasionally for about 10 minutes. Raisins should be soft and plump. Discard cloves and thicken with flour or cornstarch, 1 teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Sauce should be somewhere north of runny, call it medium-thick.
My book, SLOW RIVERS, can be ordered through your local bookstore or online via bookshop.org. (ISBN 979-8-218-43822-7)
Subscribe to be notified of new posts.
There is no cost or obligation and
your information will not be shared.
Joseph Neely, all rights reserved.
The Occasional Poem 