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Sunday, January 3, 2021

“Do you know him?” by Mary Sue Barnett, ARCWP




This poem 

will not 

comfort you


But it may 

redeem you 


This prayer 

will not

calm you


But it may

grow your soul


The man who . . .

claims space

with that daily

unconscious 

nudge of the 

patriarchal elbow,

space that does

not belong to him


Is the man who . . . 

blends anonymously 

into rape culture 

so comfortably 

never saying 

a word as 

men tear into 

vulvas and souls


Is the man who . . .

baptizes babies 

by day 

and watches 

child porn 

by night


Is the man who . . .

purchases rape 

in a girls’ brothel

in Oregon 

but softly is

called a john, 

hugged, and forgiven 

by Christians 


Is the man who . . .

claims love for wife 

and daughters 

as he mocks the 

female truths of

the #MeToo, 

#ChurchToo 

world chorus


This poem 

will not 

heal you


But it 

may break you 

like a bone 

to reset you


This prayer

will not 

give you light


But it may

blind you 

into surrender 


The man who . . .

makes merry 

and shares power 

with the men


Is the man who . . .

won’t see the battered

victims behind his

friends’ front doors 


The man who . . .

is celebrated

by men and 

women alike

as sage

and respectable 


Is the man who . . .

scrolls with 

silent privilege 

past the headline 

of the thirtieth 

woman murdered 

by a man

by men

in his city


Is the man who . . .

claims love

for the Father,

Son, and the

Holy Spirit


Is the man who . . .

believes the teen

girl is to be 

blamed for 

her rape

and the rapist

well, he’s a guy

and Jesus

loves him


This poem 

will not 

reassure you


But it may

unmask

your life


This prayer 

will not 

feed you


But it may

hurl you 

into hunger


From realms beyond 

the tortured 

and glorious 

Shekinah, 

Christa, 

Holy Sophia 


Cry out and wail 

for the feminine

it is a reckoning 

with men

to cease 

and desist 


For the man who . . . 

hears Her sacred call


Is the man who . . .

wakes and 

courageously removes

her from the stake

amid the flames 


This poem 

will not

honor you


But it may

restart your life


This prayer 

will not 

sanction you


But you 

may save

yourself 

by your

selflessness 

in the end


Rev. Mary Sue Barnett, ARCWP 

1-1-2021

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