May 1–7 ❘ Silver Coin
Poem and discussion centering on the parable of the lost coin as recorded in Luke 15:8–10.
Silver Coin
I only knew its worth when it was lost—
not just what it could buy
to satisfy hunger and hearts,
but what it cost me to get it:
cloth woven from scavenged scraps of time,
embroidered with leftover ambition,
sold to wealthy haggler
who had no taste or appreciation.
I searched, scrutinized, and swept
every corner, every cupboard,
but the cursed coin remained
indifferent—no, resistant—
to discovery,
till hallelujah!
beneath my candle
I caught it glinting,
snug behind table leg.
Come, rejoice with me!—
for souls and bodies fed,
for new threads on the loom,
for all misplaced treasures
waiting to be found.
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry.
For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com.
April 24–30 ❘ Vision
Poem and discussion centering on the story of the blind man that Jesus healed as recorded in John 9.
Vision
I’ve heard that in the temple
spirits sometimes slip through
to visit the living in the midst
of whispered prayer,
but they’ve never come to me.
I do my duty uninterrupted,
make my sacrifices,
cast coins into the treasury,
always in the same offering box
where once I heard a young man say
that he was the light of life
that could burn through any fog
between me and the Father,
if only I would believe.
I stopped to listen,
but my friends swept me away,
murmuring, “He has a devil.”
Sometimes I ponder
his bright words.
Blind as I am, perhaps God
has a work to manifest in me,
a way to wash this clay
so I can see.
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry.
For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me atmerrijane.rice@gmail.com.
April 17–23 ❘ Troubled
Poem and discussion centering on the story of Martha being overburdened with serving as recorded in Luke 10:38–42.
Troubled
I love the rhythmic resist and yield
of knead-turn-knead,
aroma of feeding yeast
and baking bread—
promise of full bellies, happy chatter,
family gathered to table.
I wish I could hear Jesus teach
as I work and wash,
that disciples would quiet
their clattering cups and calls
to fetch and fill.
If only I knew how to be
two places at once—
to serve and satisfy
and also sit and listen,
to give myself to others
while saving a good part
for myself.
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry.
For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com.
April 10–16 ❘ Before the Healing
Poem and discussion centering on Jesus’s healing of a boy who appears to be epileptic as recorded in Mark 9:17–27.
Before the Healing
A devil grips my son,
shakes him like a mast
in sudden storm till bones rattle
and head beats the ground.
I cannot tear him free.
He is bruised and scarred,
but not from play.
I once pulled him blistered
from his mother’s cooking fire.
Another day, as I mended nets,
he collapsed in stony shallows.
I ran to hold his head above water,
cradle him till the fit passed.
At night, I wrestle
with his empty future:
He will never learn to sail or sort
a day’s catch on the shore.
He will never read in the synagogue
or keep a feast day in the shadow
of the Lord’s holy house.
He will never marry or worry
over children of his own.
I still believe. I pray.
I plead to know what lack in me
keeps us from God's compassion,
but scarcely dare to ask again
for what has been withheld.
By early morning, I am wrung out.
Silence hangs like a heavy veil.
I venture one more question,
father to Father:
If you had just one child,
would you do nothing to save him
from being torn in two?
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry.
For more music by Jennette Booth, visit SoundBooth Studios or www.facebook.com/soundboothmusic.
For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com.
April 3–9 ❘ At the Tomb
Poem and discussion centering on the story of Mary encountering the resurrected Savior outside the tomb as recorded in John 20:11–16.
At the Tomb
The angel was like lightning—
sudden, unexpected, brilliant,
electrifying.
Gone before I comprehended him.
Despite his earth-shaking message
and newly donned sinews
that first resurrection morning,
it wasn’t him I came to see.
I turned instead to the garden
and found a Caretaker waiting,
ready to bridge death’s rift
with a single word
addressed to me:
Mary.
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry.
For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me atmerrijane.rice@gmail.com.
March 27–April 2 ❘ Peter
Poem and discussion centering on Jesus’s discussion with some of his disciples after he fed the 5,000 as recorded in John 6:26–69.
Peter
Will you also go away?
He was always asking
difficult questions.
When your belly is satisfied,
what bread will you crave?
In the kingdom of heaven
where no one goes hungry,
will you forget to eat?
I was empty all my life,
the pit of me always hollow
whatever my nets hauled in,
until he came with his hard sayings.
Course after course,
I chewed, swallowed, digested.
Now meals seem scraps,
eating a fast.
Surely he sees
how he fattens my bones, flows
through my veins
like milk and honey.
When you are all my living,
where else can I go?
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry.
For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com.
Mar. 20–26 ❘ Parables
Poem and discussion centering on the parables of Jesus Christ as recorded in the New Testament.
Parables
The kingdom of heaven
is a potluck dinner,
where all come to partake
of each other’s best.
It's an heirloom recipe
that requires translation
to find the right ingredients
in modern stores.
It's a reunion
where widowed, orphaned, barren
gather and mourn together,
a broken family restored.
It's a story told aloud
so breathless with expectation
that to not be drawn in
you must leave the room,
or if you love a good story
and have ears to hear,
stay and listen.
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry.
For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com.
Mar. 13–19 ❘ Prayer for My Children
Poem and discussion centering on teachings of Jesus as recorded in Luke 11:9–13
Prayer for My Children
In field, in house,
in closet of my heart,
I pause to rehearse your names,
to trace every syllable and letter
in my mind. I focus
on your faces before me
behind my closed lids, as though
I cupped you all in my hands,
examining and meditating
on your agonies, my agonies
over you.
I pour out my soul to One
who needn’t respect your privacy,
who watches and eavesdrops,
guides when I am not allowed
to interfere.
Every day, every moment,
I ask peace for you.
I seek peace for you.
I knock and it opens
peace to us all,
petal by petal.
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry. For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com.
Buy a copy of Messages on the Water from Amazon.
Buy a copy of Darlene Young’s Homespun and Angel Feathers from Amazon.
Download a copy of “My Father, I Will Cry to Thee” from ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Mar. 6–12 ❘ Disciple’s Prayer
Poem and discussion centering on the Lord’s Prayer as recorded in Matthew 6:7–13.
Disciple’s Prayer
Lord, make my life a prayer,
not a vain repetition rehearsed
and performed on street corners.
When I speak your tender name,
may it be between the two of us
a conversation uninterrupted by Amen.
Teach me how to teach myself and others,
to boost our mutual climb
and chisel footholds in the mountain.
Give me rest from endless pursuit
of more and still more.
Let me shed excess without regret
and give it freely to anyone
without under-breaths of you’re welcome
or you owe me.
And if I must be pushed, tested,
pressed into yoke of earthly service,
then let it be by you, with you,
for you are sufficient
to knit my riven heart,
rinse my mud-soaked soul,
and set me gently again
on the straight path
toward forever.
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry.
For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com.
Feb. 27–Mar. 5 ❘ Paralyzed
Poem and discussion centering on the account of the man with palsy who was lowered through the roof on his bed to be healed by Jesus, as recorded in Mark 2:1–12.
Paralyzed
Maybe you’ve never decayed
like a leper thrown to the desert,
or bled inside for years
like an unclean woman in hiding.
Maybe you’ve never reached your whole life
for God’s blessing with withered hand—
but I know some kind of pain holds you close.
Like you, I was desperate.
I couldn’t walk to Peter’s house,
press through crowds, climb walls,
pry up roof tiles. I couldn’t
lower myself into Messiah’s lap.
Friends had to haul me bodily,
heave me to the brink of salvation.
And when I emerged,
buoyant as birdsong,
all burdens shed but bedroll,
my friends met me again.
We walked home together,
breathless as we laughed and talked
of old springs that poured from split rock
and bread that used to drop from heaven
like honey.
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry.
For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com.
Feb. 20–26 ❘ It’s Hard to Be Little
Poem and discussion centering on the part of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus counsels his disciples to ask, seek, and knock, as recorded in Matthew 7:7–11.
It’s Hard to Be Little
When my math homework makes me angry,
Dad says, “Ask for help when you need it.”
Then he sits down to figure the problems with me,
sometimes Googles the answers.
But when I wanted to push the trampoline
up to the house so I could fly
off the roof, he said “NO.” Really loud.
When everyone’s in the car waiting
but I can’t find my shoes,
Mom says, “Open your eyes and look.”
She points to patent leather toes poking out
from under my bed. She sees everything.
But when I wanted to peek at my Christmas presents,
I searched from guestroom closet
to basement cold storage with no luck.
Mom wouldn’t give me even a little hint.
Both of them say it’s not polite
to run into the neighbor’s house without knocking
even if I need to use the bathroom
and I can’t make it home in time.
So I always knock. Now.
I’m still nervous about when to ask
and when to think about it some more,
when to look harder and when to sit tight.
I only sometimes guess what they want—
but somehow they always know what I need.
Maybe that’s what makes them
the boss of me.
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry. For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com.
Download a copy of the sheet music for “Ask, Seek, Knock” at SoundBooth Studios. For more music by Jennette Booth, visit www.facebook.com/soundboothmusic.
Order a copy of Messages on the Water at Amazon.
Feb. 13–19 ❘ On the Mount
Poem and discussion centering on the account of Jesus’s sermon on the mount as recorded in Matthew 5:43–48.
On the Mount
Love your enemy.
I looked at the group seated
in the green field at mountain’s foot.
No Pharisees were present,
no impertinent scribes to quibble
over who merited the name “neighbor.”
Bless those who curse you.
Do good to those who hate you.
I thought of all the sinners we served,
blessed without reservation.
We ate with publicans,
drank with Samaritans.
Who was he rebuking?
Pray for those who abuse
and persecute you.
I shifted uneasily on stony ground.
Did he mean for us to pity
those he called hypocrites, millstones,
thieves who nested in the temple?
Be perfect as your Heavenly Father,
who loves the just and unjust,
is perfect.
Might as well spin me into wool
and thread me through a needle.
My heart melted like mud in a downpour.
Maybe I was my own enemy.
Then, under the flood, bedrock:
With God,
all things are possible.
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry.
For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com.
Feb. 6–12 ❘ At Jacob’s Well
Poem and discussion centering on the account of Jesus conversing with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well as recorded in John 4:5–29.
At Jacob’s Well
Living water, he said:
not like a stream,
doggedly rushing down
to a dead sea
not like transient pools after rain,
stagnant and passive
as the sun sucks them dry
not like this well,
cool and deep,
cryptic in darkness
but a spring filling up,
bubbling over,
spilling through everyone.
Can you imagine a man
who would make fountains
of us all?
Yet as he spoke,
I felt the surge
within.
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry.
For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com.
Jan. 30–Feb. 5 ❘ Tempted of the Devil
Poem and discussion centering on the account of Satan tempting Jesus in the wilderness as recorded in Luke 4:1–14.
Tempted of the Devil
After what felt like forty days fasting,
I left church, famished. The devil said:
It’s not time for dinner, but
well past lunch.
You could eat.
“I do have a headache,” I thought.
I compromised and had a Diet Coke.
Then I was carried away by the Spirit
to nap. As I dreamt, the devil crept in:
You could have anything—honored
career, envied abs, chic wardrobe
of classic silhouettes. Go find yourself.
“Maybe,” I thought,
“Am I hiding in a department store dress rack?”
When I woke with throbbing temples, the devil
drove into me like an east wind spraying grit:
Squalling infant! Abandoned brat!
You are lost forever. Beg
for help all you want—no one cares.
I wept, groped about, then remembered:
I am a child of God. He sent me here.
I blew my nose and said,
“Go away, Satan.”
The devil departed
for a season.
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry.
For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com.
Jan. 23–29 ❘ Forerunner
Poem and discussion centering on the beginning of John the Baptist’s ministry as recorded in Matthew 3:1–12.
Forerunner
You will be the voice of one
crying in the wilderness:
Clear a path for the Lord!
Level a highway through this wasteland!
That is what the angel said to me
as I lay by my sheep in the field.
I had gazed long into heaven
absorbed by God’s operations,
scarcely noticing when stars began to gather
and joined in one brilliant blaze
like frozen lightning.
Don’t be afraid.
Father often told how he fell by the altar,
but I never understood
till my own heart leapt
like a young goat at lion’s roar.
The messenger spoke his piece untroubled,
told me who I would become.
But who am I?
Not one anointed,
not great like Isaiah or Elijah,
not a worker of miracles.
I have not so much as raised a single lamb
from death.
I am only a boy of the desert
who throws shouts across the emptiness
like stones from David’s sling,
warning of snakes and wolves,
looming storms,
wildfires in the underbrush.
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry.
For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com.
To download a copy of today’s poem from BYU Studies Quarterly, click here.
Jan. 16–22 ❘ Logos
Poem and discussion centering on truths about premortal Jesus Christ as recorded in John 1:1–14.
Logos
In the beginning,
God made a family,
pulled us drowning from shadow
into light.
If we could part darkness
now veiling stories first told
before earth was,
we would remember joy,
but also anxious questions
when we learned the path forward
meant some of us would slip
away forever:
What kind of parent sends a child
to certain death?
What unfinished soul wouldn’t pause
to weigh another offer?
How could we comprehend
salvation
in a strange world where night
would always follow day?
So in the beginning,
God gave us His Word—
eternal covenant
to satisfy the infinite
void.
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry.
For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com.
Jan. 9–15 ❘ From the East
Poem and discussion centering on the story of the wise men from the east as recorded in Matthew 2:1–12.
From the East
It almost feels like fate,
and yet I know it isn’t.
Just a chain of choices
long as life itself—
this I say, this not;
this I do, this not;
this I study, ponder,
believe—
until by twists and turns
I arrive here
to gaze upward at a new light
in heaven’s velvet veil,
a tear where God streams through
like lightning from a pinprick
or revelation from a whisper,
calling follow.
It’s another step
in the long progression,
one more choice:
stay a scholar only,
seeking and sorting ancient tales
in dark-paneled, perfumed rooms,
safely conjuring heaven,
ever learning but never knowing
or gather my gifts quickly,
run toward heart-thumping
pull of prophecy,
swing from stirrup to saddle
in a smooth leap,
and leave tonight to follow
the Star.
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry.
For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com.
To order a copy of the Mormon Lit Blitz Anthology, click here.
Jan. 2–8 ❘ Elisabeth
Poem and discussion centering on the story of Elisabeth and Zacharias as recorded in Luke 1:5–25.
Elisabeth
When Zacharias wrote,
God will give us a son,
I laughed within myself
like Sarah,
too brittle to laugh without.
Like Rachel,
I had waded through years,
watched God pour ever more
on the well-watered
as I withered.
Like Hannah,
I had vowed and prayed,
drunk with bitterness,
yet no Eli interrupted
to accuse or bless.
Then suddenly,
like sea split wide by shining path,
like sun and moon stopped still in heaven,
like all earth illuminated as fiery glass,
God gave us a son!
as though to laugh Himself
at time run out and life well-stricken,
to once again prove through me
that nothing is ever too late
for Him.
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry.
For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com.
Dec. 26–Jan. 1 ❘ Invocation
A brief explanation of how episodes will be formatted, plus a preface poem and discussion.
Invocation
My poems
cannot tell a sparrow’s song
or contemplate a petal’s curve.
They cannot roll the earth
or hold the sun
still.
But I breathe beauty and grace.
I weep gratitude for my place.
I stilt and stutter onward
still—
for God has told me:
write.
I will.
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry.
For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com.
Welcome to Follow!
Welcome to Follow: A Latter-day Saint Scripture Poetry Podcast. My name is Merrijane Rice, and I’ll be sharing my poetry with you beginning in January 2023 as we turn our attention to the New Testament for the “Come, Follow Me” study program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
To read more of my poetry, visit www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry.
For questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com.