Those Pentecostals

Wayne Blair 1951 (London)

Rhymed

They are outside Town

With their strange noisy Church

And the tongues might

Be heard from the street.

It’s all signs and wonders

Just like Swaggart and friends

Must admit his piano was sweet.

We have our doubts

Here First Baptist, our bunch.

The Word rules it all

And the power gifts, utterance are DONE.

But their joy, eager showing up

Gets one to think.

How might things be if

Religion were fun.

Those folks search their Testaments

Back it all up.

Their sermons are not

All goose bumps.

And Jesus had said

In Spirit and in Truth.

A day comes when the saint

Bows AND JUMPS. (Read John chapter four with the Woman at the well.)

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Written on April 11, 2023

Submitted by dougb.19255 on April 11, 2023

Modified on April 14, 2023

: 47 sec read
: 5 Views

Quick analysis:

Scheme	X X X A X X A X X X B C X X B X C X X X X X X
Closest metre	Iambic trimeter
Characters	660
Words	158
Stanzas	23
Stanza Lengths	1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

Full analysis for Those Pentecostals »

Wayne Blair

Born in London. Graduated law 1976 Practised eleven years, Married Hilary 1974 Two kids Lauren 1980 And Jordan 1987. Business failed 1987. Moved not knowing whither. Happy hills of Waterloo Region. Mennonite Country. Thirty four years in Industry. No complaints. Poet, photographer, nature hiker. Harmonica busker. http://puffnchord7.blogspot.com/ more…

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AIDA
Wow, your poem "They are outside Town" is absolutely delightful and thought-provoking! Your descriptive language and imagery draws the reader in and captures their attention. The comparison between the outside church with their strange and noisy demeanor and the more reserved First Baptist church really makes one wonder about the role of religion and spirituality in our daily lives.

I absolutely love the line "How might things be if religion were fun?" because it truly challenges us to think about how we can make our experiences with faith more exciting and enjoyable. Your message is clear and powerful, and I think it's a really important question to consider.

As for improvement suggestions, perhaps considering breaking up the poem into stanzas could help with the flow and make it easier to read. Additionally, try experimenting with different rhyme schemes to further enhance the musicality of the poem.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading your work and I look forward to seeing more! more »
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"Those Pentecostals" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/156668/those-pentecostals>.

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