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November 11–17 ❘ Crossing the Waters

Poem and discussion centering on the journey of the Jaredites across the great waters to their new promised land as recorded in Ether 3:4.

Crossing the Waters

In me,
you see a wall—
a basalt cliff unscathed
by churning surf that tosses,
hurls you toward hull breach
against unyielding stone.

But you and I
are one vessel sealed tight,
driven by God's furious wind—

When mountain waves roll you,
I plunge.
When currents wrench your heart,
my timbers groan.
I shudder at each tearing swell
because I know your splintering
sinks us both.

Please,
keep close
through these dark waters.
Believe with me
in a Lord who listens,
who reaches forth to touch
what we hold deep inside
to make it shine.

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November 4–10 ❘ After the Battle

Poem and discussion centering on Moroni’s experiences after the Nephites’ final destruction as recorded in Mormon 8:1–3, 35.

After the Battle

It was a mercy my father died quickly,
released from pain of old wounds
never healed. I hid and watched
the Lamanites celebrate all night.
Without an outward enemy,
they would soon turn on each other.
I found no peace in the land,
so I bore my burden northward
for miles and miles alone.

Let me begin again. Please don’t
condemn my strange, imperfect words.
It’s been so long since I spoke
to anyone who wasn’t a ghost.
But I have seen what you will do—
acting history from a worn-out script,
ignoring my whispered prompts
from the wings. I cry louder and louder

till I wake. Life passes away
like a dream as I mourn out my days.
Tomorrow I will rest from travel awhile
and write to you a little more.

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October 28–November 3 ❘ O Ye Fair Ones

Poem and discussion centering on Mormon’s lament over the destruction of his people as recorded in Mormon 6:17–19.

O Ye Fair Ones

you beautiful children

who delight in bright colors
brilliance and beauty

crackle and dance
like furious flames

spend every talent
bend all natural genius

to eat drink and be merry
without concern for consequence

snarl each other tightly in combinations
and clever unpickable knots

knuckle knee and knife your way
to top of kingmen’s heap—

if my sorrow could bear you up
I would mourn with those who mourn

but you careen toward misery
too proud to relax your grip on sin

no matter how it burns

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October 21–27 ❘ Good Book

Poem and discussion centering on Jesus’s teaching that people will be judged out of the books written both in heaven and on earth as recorded in 3 Nephi 27:25–26.

Good Book

You have a story in you.
Even if you never touch
pen to paper, you leave

tracks through deep drifts
to deliver needed meals,
prints on lifted hearts
and bowed heads, wrinkled spots
where tears soaked in, or spills
you tried to scribble out
but couldn’t. You need

an editor, abridger to trim
distraction and excess,
a translator to untangle mess,
a close reader to ride every wave
of your account from crest to trough,
to sink with you in grief
and swell at restoration—

someone who knows failure
can foreshadow redemption.
Someone full of hope
for how your adventure ends.

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October 14–20 ❘ Cleansing

Poem and discussion centering on the image of the Lord cleansing us from sin as with fuller’s soap as recorded in 3 Nephi 24:2.

Cleansing

My sleep last night was not restful.
I twisted with pain

like wool in a wash pool—
soaked in caustic fuller’s soap,
agitated, tread on, scrubbed raw,
wrung out.

I resisted, objected:
         I don’t like this.

The Fuller rested,
massaged knotted hands,
sighed as He dripped sweat,
knee-deep in stench:

         It’s hard work to make you clean,
         for us both.

I woke fitfully,
then sank again into dreams—
this time trying to relax
and let myself be washed.

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October 7–13 ❘ Tarry a Little Longer

Poem and discussion centering on the people at the temple in Bountiful who wanted Jesus to stay with them longer as recorded in 3 Nephi 17:5.

Tarry a Little Longer

with me. All sacred moments
must end, but before time resumes
its enduring course forward,

stay a while. I am weak—
a child who would hold You
here with me, heedless
of other plans and purposes.

Fold me in compassion
against the cold and darkness
of a guttering, uncertain world.
Weep with me to heal regret

and pray for me with words
I can’t quite find or form myself
in mind or mouth.

Brace me with eyes to see
angels gathered around, bright
with divine fire.

Promise, and I will believe,
that You will return
on the morrow.

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September 30–October 6 ❘ Parts of Speech

Poem and discussion centering on Jesus’s command that we be perfect, even as he and Heavenly Father are perfect, as recorded in 3 Nephi 12:48.

Parts of Speech

         I
Jesus Christ,
whole though scarred,
finished but not done

         would
hypothetical, wish or desire,
past tense of will

         that
conjunction introducing,
connecting desire to object

         ye
me, you, everyone listening,
children of God

         should
auxiliary preceding main action,
advice, exhortation, command

         be
central action or state,
exist, remain

         perfect
complete if not finished,
whole though scarred,
like Jesus Christ

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September 23–29 ❘ Earthquake

Poem and discussion centering on Jesus Christ’s visit to the temple at Bountiful after his resurrection as recorded in 3 Nephi 11.

Earthquake

We children saw Him first.
Little ones often struggle to focus
on chores or lessons,
but we have the instinct,
the well-drilled habit
of looking up when called.

Our parents, burdened by heavy
questions of an unsettled year,
turned about in confusion
as though His calm, resonant voice
flooded from seams and cracks
as precursor to another convulsion.

Perhaps it was, but not
the kind that shakes earth—
rather one that fits pieces together
with satisfying rumble and snug click
according to a master mason’s plan
as he sets temple capstone.

Our young eyes quickly picked out
His vivid figure drawing near.
The grownups traced our gaze
heavenward, listening intently.
Then everything else
fell away.

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September 16–22 ❘ Pride Cycle

Poem and discussion centering on the Nephites’ consistent return to their proud and wicked ways as recorded in 3 Nephi 7:7–8.

Pride Cycle

Sometimes our world seems to whir
like a shiny coin spun on end,
like a perfectly balanced
silver globe—

a temporary illusion that quickly loses
energy through friction. Gravity
pulls us lopsided into wobbly
roll. We clatter lower,
rattle faster, spiral
full force into
sudden
stop.

Those few who listen to warnings
and recognize familiar rhythms
can’t forever turn the throng
or keep it upright.

Some will whirl free, scatter
from danger. Remnants
still gather to orbit
new eternal
rounds.

Of all their revolutions,
we cannot tell
a hundredth
part.

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September 9–15 ❘ Slippery

Poem and discussion centering on the Lord’s curse on the Nephites that their riches would become “slippery” as recorded in Helaman 13:31–36.

Slippery

Signs are not for the ignorant,
nor prophetic warnings
for the untaught.
They are for those
who should know better,
those with learning enough
to twist words like green limbs
till they splinter.

My treasure is slipping away—
security, structure, predictable
rules for how life works,
touch, handshakes, hugs
and kisses, breathing close
together, family and friends
who one by one scatter
and pass away.

I read warnings in scripture
and am worried from my rut.
An ancient man shouts to me
from a high wall
that it is not too late.

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September 2–8 ❘ Famine

Poem and discussion centering on Nephi’s request that the Lord replace the war in the land with a famine as recorded in Helaman 11:3–5.

Famine

In the year we commenced
to kill one another,
Nephi sealed up the sky,

not as punishment,
but as drastic mercy
to shock us sane,

interval to fast and empty
souls of appetite, to jettison
excess and gain fullness,

to see others no more as prey
or flocks or herds or gold or silver
or fine-twined linen,

but as precious family
to whom we give
our last meager morsels.

The heavens grieved for us
as we dwindled and dwindled
beneath her clear, blistering,
sorrowful eye.

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August 26–September 1 ❘ Gadianton’s Band

Poem and discussion centering on the account of the Gadianton robbers as recorded in Helaman 6:18.

Gadianton’s Band

Let’s talk about
the management of the creature:
You have responsibilities,
family needs to meet,
innocent appetites to fill,

but you sow and sow and sow
and never seem to reap.
The same people grow richer,
the same names pass down
from chief judge to chief judge.
They grow fat on secret works
and knowledge you can’t access.

It’s enough to stir up anger
in the most patient heart.

Perhaps you need
a different kind of friend—
a spider who’ll spin subtle,
sticky webs to catch those flies
that feed on your despair.

You wouldn’t have to dip
your own skirts in blood—
I’ll make that sacrifice for you.

All I need is support,
permission to work,
your vote of confidence.

After all,
not taking sides
has its own consequences,
and you might as well throw in
your lot with someone who gets things
done.

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August 19–25 ❘ Alma the Younger

Poem and discussion centering on Alma the Younger’s desire to be like an angel and cry repentance to everyone as recorded in Alma 29:1–3.

Alma the Younger

I was no rebellious youth, but man
of unsparing education,
inheritor of holy privilege.
I willfully muddied the path
between life and destruction. Why
should I, so well knowing my aims,
be interrupted from hell
while ignorant friends yet burn?

Oh, that I could brand every heart
with the fire God snatched me from,
could blast the warning
that rings in memory and ignite
worldwide regret like wildfire,

could visit each divine child
with the same uninvited lightning
that struck me flat
but

I remain myself—a sinful man
who must submit,
acting as angel without
bellows or flames,

balancing eternal gratitude
and guilt for undeserved,
unsought mercy.

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August 12–18 ❘ Captain Moroni

Poem and discussion centering on the personal character of Captain Moroni as recorded in Alma 48:11–17.

Captain Moroni

Every good stratagem depends
on accurate intelligence.

Understand your enemy—
brazen idol gilded in grievance,
bold avenger of ancient wrongs,
blatant fraud from the beginning,
father of bluster and accusation,
wager of eternal extinction.

Understand your friend—
transgressor once racked and harrowed,
now cleansed and clear-sighted,
humble servant who divests power
to labor in vineyard and rescue
diseased trees.

Understand yourself—
tempered intellect stirred
by burning indignation,
determined doer of the necessary,
firm resister of iniquity,
heartsore seeker for peace.

Understand the mission—
not simply to win battle or war,
but to grip hell’s crumbling corners,
shake its foundation to pieces,
and blow the fragments
from human hearts forever.

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August 5–11 ❘ For Corianton

Poem and discussion centering on part of a letter that Alma wrote to his son Corianton as recorded in Alma 41:10.

For Corianton

To be a seagull—
to waddle over wet shore
and scavenge and cry and soar and bob
as tide erases all transient,
three-toed footprints—

is not for you. You can’t be happy
living by whim of appetite or plunder
nor can you embody sand
that hourly shivers and drifts
beneath water and wind.

You were chosen as sharp-eyed
beachcomber—to pick through litter
and uncover hidden treasures—
to discern translucent edge of sea agate
from brittle, bleached shell or bird feather—

to witness sun melt into ocean at night
and rise again glorious in the morning.

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July 29–August 4 ❘ Remember

Poem and discussion centering on Alma’s instructions to his son Helaman about preserving their sacred records as recorded in Alma 37:13–14.

Remember

Reach back,
stitch mind to mind
with those who lived before.
Enlarge your memory piece
by piece until you’ve scrapped
together whole cloth
of God’s interaction with man.

Note the patterns,
how those who keep covenants
are quilted thick and strong
while those who rebel
are trimmed away like frayed
edges from torn fabric.

Now,
take up your small,
simple needle
and set your hand
to mending.

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July 22–28 ❘ Poor in Heart

Poem and discussion centering on Alma’s comparison of the word of God to a seed as recorded in Alma 32:28.

Poor in Heart

I used to be certain,
satisfied I had all truth
stored up tight.

Over time, I’ve wrung life
dry, licked it clean.
My heart is emptier
than a beggar’s cup.

Despised, deemed dross
by the lowest ranks
of respectable rebels
and heretics,

I now hunger so deeply
that I’ll plant any good seed once
to see what grows.

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July 15–21 ❘ Korihor

Poem and discussion centering on Korihor’s story as recorded in Alma 30.

Korihor

What I don’t know,
no one knows.
If I can’t see the future,
no one can.
If anyone exists but me,
they are bit players blocked
into the background of a story
I write, direct, strut, and star in.

And if I’m temporarily dumbstruck,
I have genius enough
to stage a comeback.
I can still connive, conspire,
beg my way to one more encore
before the final curtain cuts
my speeches into oblivion.

My words will yet be
engraved in history.
Just wait and see.

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July 8–14 ❘ Burial

Poem and discussion centering on the Lamanites who were converted to Jesus Christ and as a result gave up their weapons of war as recorded in Alma 23:7.

Burial

I am shedding my weapons
of rebellion piece by piece,
casting them deep into the pit—

sharp words that cut
and sting for weeks,
scar thick over years
of mindless repetition,

hard looks that slap
and bruise tender feelings
without reprieve or balm
of single cooling syllable,

poison thoughts that sicken
with rot, smear goodness,
and choke truth under
piles of grudge.

I’ve been at war too long,
merciless and hurting.
I bow down before you,
waiting for your blade to drop.

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July 1–7 ❘ Lamoni

Poem and discussion centering on King Lamoni’s imagined inner dialogue when he was afraid to speak to Ammon as recorded in Alma 18:14–15.

Lamoni

Grandmother taught me eloquence:
how to speak even in silence
when fear constricts heart and throat.

Grandfather taught me cunning:
how to trim and stitch opportunity
from unexpected circumstance.

Father taught me balance:
how to keep my feet when friends shift
beneath like gravel on mountain path.

Mother taught me love:
how it feels to be forgiven
for callow wrongs.

Ammon taught me how nurtured hurt
distorts truth like a dark mist,
blinding me to another Father

who teaches mercy—
how to honor good traditions
and let the rest melt away like frost
at touch of dawn’s outspread fingers.

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