gospel of boke: DAY {2/14} 12-22/154 [860-870]

BOKE / GOB

RHETORICAL VERSE IN SHAKESPEAREAN SONNET FORM
154 SONNETS IN 14 DAYS 'ROUND CHRISTMAS 2003
(COMPOSED 15-28 DEC 2003 / 11 SONNETS PER DAY)
BOKE INDEX

by BOKE

gospel of boke
(154-sonnet collage/sequence)

DAY {2/14}
<< DAY INDEX // ONE-PAGE

A POSTMODERN/RHETORICAL ADVENTURE THROUGH THE GOSPEL OF JOHN IN SHAKESPEAREAN SONNET FORM

GOSPEL OF BOKE {12 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!)
{GOB_12_01}   AND GOD SAID: "Boke, you left The Baptist out?"
{GOB_12_02}   "Well, God," says Boke, "I'm in the wilderness
{GOB_12_03}   and crying. Do we need two prophs to shout?"
{GOB_12_04}   "Stick with the story, Boke, or I won't bless ...

{GOB_12_05}   ... this undertaking that no earthly soul
{GOB_12_06}   -- not even Shakespeare -- could have done this fast.
{GOB_12_07}   154 in fourteen days -- a goal
{GOB_12_08}   that's quite a lot to pray for, Boke who's sassed ...

{GOB_12_09}   ... Me sev'ral times this year, but made me smile.
{GOB_12_10}   Without the smiles I'd say to go to hell
{GOB_12_11}   with all these sonnets stretching out a mile
{GOB_12_12}   in cyberspace. Thank God, you do it well."

{GOB_12_13}   God smiles at His own joke, then at this pest
{GOB_12_14}   named Boke who never seems to take a rest.

GOSPEL OF BOKE {13 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!)
{GOB_13_01}   BY GOD'S REQUEST "REWIND" to Chapter One
{GOB_13_02}   of John to John the Baptist. Don't get lost.
{GOB_13_03}   The writer's an apostle of The Son.
{GOB_13_04}   The baptist is the voice who'll pay the cost ...

{GOB_13_05}   ... of martyrdom one day and find his head
{GOB_13_06}   served on a tray 'cause some dame power-tripped
{GOB_13_07}   while doing what her wicked momma said.
{GOB_13_08}   Oh Ho! You say, Boke's momma-moral's ripped ...

{GOB_13_09}   ... to tatters by this inconsistency!
{GOB_13_10}   Oh no, says Boke, remember I said "Might."
{GOB_13_11}   Don't be so sure of what you think you see
{GOB_13_12}   within this text, or Bible. See the light.

{GOB_13_13}   God snaps his finger, "Boke, please God, move on.
{GOB_13_14}   Stop vamping tell the tale, or mow the lawn!" {>>>}

GOSPEL OF BOKE {14 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!)
{GOB_14_01}   "It's Christmas time, dear Lord, the grass don't grow,"
{GOB_14_02}   says Boke to vamp some more. God smacks his head
{GOB_14_03}   with old rolled up newspaper: "Don't you know
{GOB_14_04}   Australian grass is growing? What I said!"

{GOB_14_05}   "OK!" says Boke beginning where he spliced:
{GOB_14_06}   JOHN WRITES of John the Baptist "sent from God"
{GOB_14_07}   to bear strong witness of the Light -- the Christ
{GOB_14_08}   long prophesied. John preaching was a rod ...

{GOB_14_09}   ... to beat the drum announcing "Jesus Now!"
{GOB_14_10}   The time had come: the prophecy fulfilled.
{GOB_14_11}   "I am the voice repeating scripture's vow
{GOB_14_12}   Christ comes with truth and grace, divinely filled."

{GOB_14_13}   He testified the Spirit of the Lord
{GOB_14_14}   he saw descend and stay with God's adored.

GOSPEL OF BOKE {15 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!)
{GOB_15_01}   "Trust Me," says God, "You're thinking way too hard.
{GOB_15_02}   The flow is kinking, let yourself release
{GOB_15_03}   your logic boxing in God's paths. En garde!
{GOB_15_04}   Your human calculations will decrease ...

{GOB_15_05}   ... My opportunities, so cut it out!
{GOB_15_06}   Or let me cut it for you: Rest in Me.
{GOB_15_07}   My burden is not heavy. There's no drought
{GOB_15_08}   within God's presence. Feel the energy ...

{GOB_15_09}   ... surrounding you -- if you will just plug in
{GOB_15_10}   to mountain-moving power. Just have faith
{GOB_15_11}   and do your best to not waste time with sin
{GOB_15_12}   or wond'ring why so few words rhyme with faith.

{GOB_15_13}   The time of life's a given for you folks,
{GOB_15_14}   so use it well -- Tell God a few good jokes."

GOSPEL OF BOKE {16 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!)
{GOB_16_01}   "Don't let me lose momentum, Jim," she left
{GOB_16_02}   on Boke's machine that captures random calls
{GOB_16_03}   from out of time -- the tendrils never cleft
{GOB_16_04}   still open to re-circle nodal balls ...

{GOB_16_05}   ... of episodic history entwined
{GOB_16_06}   but off the path of victory, I think.
{GOB_16_07}   "Why don't you write one sonnet," I've refined
{GOB_16_08}   my multi-path advice to one, "Just sink ...

{GOB_16_09}   ... a couple dozen minutes in constraints
{GOB_16_10}   of art to focus your eyes more like mine.
{GOB_16_11}   Not copy, but a chance to use your paints
{GOB_16_12}   on your own story. Draw your own life line ...

{GOB_16_13}   ... more open to the paths because of rhymes
{GOB_16_14}   unhinging where you've gone so many times.

GOSPEL OF BOKE {17 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!)
{GOB_17_01}   "HAVE YOU MADE CLEAR that Dubya is possessed?"
{GOB_17_02}   "Yes, Lord, a dozen times. Is that enough?"
{GOB_17_03}   "I can't believe the people that I've blessed
{GOB_17_04}   would vote for Satan's minion talking tough ...

{GOB_17_05}   ... 'bout killin' folks while claiming he is Mine."
{GOB_17_06}   "Perhaps a few more times, Lord, they'll catch on:
{GOB_17_07}   Death-dealers of the world are not divine
{GOB_17_08}   enforcers of God's will. It may yet dawn ...

{GOB_17_09}   ... on U.S. Christians 'fore it is too late
{GOB_17_10}   and they'll all burn in hell -- oh heavy price
{GOB_17_11}   for choosing that blaspheming son of hate.
{GOB_17_12}   George Dubya Bush is evil -- he ain't nice."

{GOB_17_13}   "A little stronger rhyme, Boke, if you please.
{GOB_17_14}   Don't flow so fast, forget to cross your T's."

GOSPEL OF BOKE {18 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!)
{GOB_18_01}   "What of The Baptist? Is there more to say?"
{GOB_18_02}   says God to Boke to pull them back on track.
{GOB_18_03}   "Not much in John. Synoptics show the day
{GOB_18_04}   John bapped baptism seekers. His attack: ...

{GOB_18_05}   ... "Your snakes! You'd better straighten up. Repent!
{GOB_18_06}   Bring forth good fruit, or you will be cut down
{GOB_18_07}   and cast into a fire. Here's a hint:
{GOB_18_08}   Share clothes and food with poor folks in your town."

{GOB_18_09}   "Good! Good!" said God, "that sounds more like the man
{GOB_18_10}   I sent to pave the way for Christ my son."
{GOB_18_11}   "Yes, Lord. Does that mean bapping's in your plan?
{GOB_18_12}   To call folks names -- like ' vipers ' -- sounds like fun!"

{GOB_18_13}   God smiles and baps Boke lightly on the head:
{GOB_18_14}   "Speed up these sonnets so we'll get to bed."

GOSPEL OF BOKE {19 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!)
{GOB_19_01}   "YOU'RE POND'RING Paris Hilton's skinny butt,"
{GOB_19_02}   says God to Boke. (Yes, God knows ev'rything.)
{GOB_19_03}   Turn off the VCR before I cut
{GOB_19_04}   your TV privileges and make you sing ...

{GOB_19_05}   ... in angel choir about how great I am."
{GOB_19_06}   God loves to torture Boke about desire
{GOB_19_07}   for television and thoughts that might damn
{GOB_19_08}   his soul -- if nothing else, make him perspire.

{GOB_19_09}   God's laughter at Boke's suff'rings not much told
{GOB_19_10}   in parables by Jesus in the text
{GOB_19_11}   of Bibles edited before they're sold
{GOB_19_12}   to seekers who are sure to be perplexed.

{GOB_19_13}   The Bible must be read between the lines.
{GOB_19_14}   God's smiling when he's peeping through the blinds.

GOSPEL OF BOKE {20 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!)
{GOB_20_01}   FAST FORWARD BACK through John -- for now we'll skim
{GOB_20_02}   through Jewish leaders plotting Jesus' death.
{GOB_20_03}   Not anti-semitism, Saint John's sim
{GOB_20_04}   of how things were when he shared Jesus' breath ...

{GOB_20_05}   ... as his disciple, seeing what He saw
{GOB_20_06}   so many years before -- when Christ had died
{GOB_20_07}   he said to save the world. Is that a flaw
{GOB_20_08}   in John's perspective? Do you think he lied?

{GOB_20_09}   I don't, but truth of stories is complex.
{GOB_20_10}   The interactions of all fragments count.
{GOB_20_11}   All human tellings will have their defects.
{GOB_20_12}   The truth's not summing up one clear amount.

{GOB_20_13}   I hold each fragment of the Bible true.
{GOB_20_14}   But keep all in the air, not just a few.

GOSPEL OF BOKE {21 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!)
{GOB_21_01}   SAMARIA: The Woman At The Well
{GOB_21_02}   Just stop me if you've heard this one before.
{GOB_21_03}   Just kidding -- here's a part you have to tell
{GOB_21_04}   to cover all the standard Jesus lore.

{GOB_21_05}   Just rhyming, folks. You think that "lore" is false --
{GOB_21_06}   tall tales and myths. But lore's just oral truth:
{GOB_21_07}   IN FLUX -- the fragments not nailed down. A waltz
{GOB_21_08}   around the room. Not trapped inside a booth ...

{GOB_21_09}   ... by heavy friends who won't let you get out
{GOB_21_10}   to chat up that cute girl who's at the bar
{GOB_21_11}   with something else to add without a doubt.
{GOB_21_12}   (Boke's picturing a skinny TV star.)

{GOB_21_13}   AT LAST, A METAPHOR! God pats Boke's back.
{GOB_21_14}   Then for that Paris thought, his head a smack.

GOSPEL OF BOKE {22 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!)
{GOB_22_01}   GOD SAYS he's off to chat with Dean once more.
{GOB_22_02}   "That boy needs lots of help -- that nasty pack
{GOB_22_03}   of Democrats won't listen to Al Gore
{GOB_22_04}   and Bushy-Dem is such a sorry sack ..."

{GOB_22_05}   The Lord goes mumbling out, but Boke's still here
{GOB_22_06}   to wrap this day's eleven, and to pray
{GOB_22_07}   Americans will swallow wisdom's beer,
{GOB_22_08}   spit out the bullshit they believe today.

{GOB_22_09}   Boke's guitar callouses, I hope return
{GOB_22_10}   from I've-No-Time-To-Play town. We sure need
{GOB_22_11}   a song to sing, an MP3 to burn
{GOB_22_12}   into our minds -- so Boke won't have to bleed ...

{GOB_22_13}   ... the same blood ev'ry week. Christ shouts, "Just once
{GOB_22_14}   is quite enough to suffer." He's no dunce.

DAY {2/14}
<< DAY INDEX // ONE-PAGE

	GOSPEL OF BOKE {12 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!) {GOB_12_01} AND GOD SAID: "Boke, you left The Baptist out?" {GOB_12_02} "Well, God," says Boke, "I'm in the wilderness {GOB_12_03} and crying. Do we need two prophs to shout?" {GOB_12_04} "Stick with the story, Boke, or I won't bless ... {GOB_12_05} ... this undertaking that no earthly soul {GOB_12_06} -- not even Shakespeare -- could have done this fast. {GOB_12_07} 154 in fourteen days -- a goal {GOB_12_08} that's quite a lot to pray for, Boke who's sassed ... {GOB_12_09} ... Me sev'ral times this year, but made me smile. {GOB_12_10} Without the smiles I'd say to go to hell {GOB_12_11} with all these sonnets stretching out a mile {GOB_12_12} in cyberspace. Thank God, you do it well." {GOB_12_13} God smiles at His own joke, then at this pest {GOB_12_14} named Boke who never seems to take a rest.

	GOSPEL OF BOKE {13 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!) {GOB_13_01} BY GOD'S REQUEST "REWIND" to Chapter One {GOB_13_02} of John to John the Baptist. Don't get lost. {GOB_13_03} The writer's an apostle of The Son. {GOB_13_04} The baptist is the voice who'll pay the cost ... {GOB_13_05} ... of martyrdom one day and find his head {GOB_13_06} served on a tray 'cause some dame power-tripped {GOB_13_07} while doing what her wicked momma said. {GOB_13_08} Oh Ho! You say, Boke's momma-moral's ripped ... {GOB_13_09} ... to tatters by this inconsistency! {GOB_13_10} Oh no, says Boke, remember I said "Might." {GOB_13_11} Don't be so sure of what you think you see {GOB_13_12} within this text, or Bible. See the light. {GOB_13_13} God snaps his finger, "Boke, please God, move on. {GOB_13_14} Stop vamping tell the tale, or mow the lawn!" {>>>}

	GOSPEL OF BOKE {14 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!) {GOB_14_01} "It's Christmas time, dear Lord, the grass don't grow," {GOB_14_02} says Boke to vamp some more. God smacks his head {GOB_14_03} with old rolled up newspaper: "Don't you know {GOB_14_04} Australian grass is growing? What I said!" {GOB_14_05} "OK!" says Boke beginning where he spliced: {GOB_14_06} JOHN WRITES of John the Baptist "sent from God" {GOB_14_07} to bear strong witness of the Light -- the Christ {GOB_14_08} long prophesied. John preaching was a rod ... {GOB_14_09} ... to beat the drum announcing "Jesus Now!" {GOB_14_10} The time had come: the prophecy fulfilled. {GOB_14_11} "I am the voice repeating scripture's vow {GOB_14_12} Christ comes with truth and grace, divinely filled." {GOB_14_13} He testified the Spirit of the Lord {GOB_14_14} he saw descend and stay with God's adored.

	GOSPEL OF BOKE {15 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!) {GOB_15_01} "Trust Me," says God, "You're thinking way too hard. {GOB_15_02} The flow is kinking, let yourself release {GOB_15_03} your logic boxing in God's paths. En garde! {GOB_15_04} Your human calculations will decrease ... {GOB_15_05} ... My opportunities, so cut it out! {GOB_15_06} Or let me cut it for you: Rest in Me. {GOB_15_07} My burden is not heavy. There's no drought {GOB_15_08} within God's presence. Feel the energy ... {GOB_15_09} ... surrounding you -- if you will just plug in {GOB_15_10} to mountain-moving power. Just have faith {GOB_15_11} and do your best to not waste time with sin {GOB_15_12} or wond'ring why so few words rhyme with faith. {GOB_15_13} The time of life's a given for you folks, {GOB_15_14} so use it well -- Tell God a few good jokes."

	GOSPEL OF BOKE {16 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!) {GOB_16_01} "Don't let me lose momentum, Jim," she left {GOB_16_02} on Boke's machine that captures random calls {GOB_16_03} from out of time -- the tendrils never cleft {GOB_16_04} still open to re-circle nodal balls ... {GOB_16_05} ... of episodic history entwined {GOB_16_06} but off the path of victory, I think. {GOB_16_07} "Why don't you write one sonnet," I've refined {GOB_16_08} my multi-path advice to one, "Just sink ... {GOB_16_09} ... a couple dozen minutes in constraints {GOB_16_10} of art to focus your eyes more like mine. {GOB_16_11} Not copy, but a chance to use your paints {GOB_16_12} on your own story. Draw your own life line ... {GOB_16_13} ... more open to the paths because of rhymes {GOB_16_14} unhinging where you've gone so many times.

	GOSPEL OF BOKE {17 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!) {GOB_17_01} "HAVE YOU MADE CLEAR that Dubya is possessed?" {GOB_17_02} "Yes, Lord, a dozen times. Is that enough?" {GOB_17_03} "I can't believe the people that I've blessed {GOB_17_04} would vote for Satan's minion talking tough ... {GOB_17_05} ... 'bout killin' folks while claiming he is Mine." {GOB_17_06} "Perhaps a few more times, Lord, they'll catch on: {GOB_17_07} Death-dealers of the world are not divine {GOB_17_08} enforcers of God's will. It may yet dawn ... {GOB_17_09} ... on U.S. Christians 'fore it is too late {GOB_17_10} and they'll all burn in hell -- oh heavy price {GOB_17_11} for choosing that blaspheming son of hate. {GOB_17_12} George Dubya Bush is evil -- he ain't nice." {GOB_17_13} "A little stronger rhyme, Boke, if you please. {GOB_17_14} Don't flow so fast, forget to cross your T's."

	GOSPEL OF BOKE {18 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!) {GOB_18_01} "What of The Baptist? Is there more to say?" {GOB_18_02} says God to Boke to pull them back on track. {GOB_18_03} "Not much in John. Synoptics show the day {GOB_18_04} John bapped baptism seekers. His attack: ... {GOB_18_05} ... "Your snakes! You'd better straighten up. Repent! {GOB_18_06} Bring forth good fruit, or you will be cut down {GOB_18_07} and cast into a fire. Here's a hint: {GOB_18_08} Share clothes and food with poor folks in your town." {GOB_18_09} "Good! Good!" said God, "that sounds more like the man {GOB_18_10} I sent to pave the way for Christ my son." {GOB_18_11} "Yes, Lord. Does that mean bapping's in your plan? {GOB_18_12} To call folks names -- like ' vipers ' -- sounds like fun!" {GOB_18_13} God smiles and baps Boke lightly on the head: {GOB_18_14} "Speed up these sonnets so we'll get to bed."

	GOSPEL OF BOKE {19 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!) {GOB_19_01} "YOU'RE POND'RING Paris Hilton's skinny butt," {GOB_19_02} says God to Boke. (Yes, God knows ev'rything.) {GOB_19_03} Turn off the VCR before I cut {GOB_19_04} your TV privileges and make you sing ... {GOB_19_05} ... in angel choir about how great I am." {GOB_19_06} God loves to torture Boke about desire {GOB_19_07} for television and thoughts that might damn {GOB_19_08} his soul -- if nothing else, make him perspire. {GOB_19_09} God's laughter at Boke's suff'rings not much told {GOB_19_10} in parables by Jesus in the text {GOB_19_11} of Bibles edited before they're sold {GOB_19_12} to seekers who are sure to be perplexed. {GOB_19_13} The Bible must be read between the lines. {GOB_19_14} God's smiling when he's peeping through the blinds.

	GOSPEL OF BOKE {20 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!) {GOB_20_01} FAST FORWARD BACK through John -- for now we'll skim {GOB_20_02} through Jewish leaders plotting Jesus' death. {GOB_20_03} Not anti-semitism, Saint John's sim {GOB_20_04} of how things were when he shared Jesus' breath ... {GOB_20_05} ... as his disciple, seeing what He saw {GOB_20_06} so many years before -- when Christ had died {GOB_20_07} he said to save the world. Is that a flaw {GOB_20_08} in John's perspective? Do you think he lied? {GOB_20_09} I don't, but truth of stories is complex. {GOB_20_10} The interactions of all fragments count. {GOB_20_11} All human tellings will have their defects. {GOB_20_12} The truth's not summing up one clear amount. {GOB_20_13} I hold each fragment of the Bible true. {GOB_20_14} But keep all in the air, not just a few.

	GOSPEL OF BOKE {21 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!) {GOB_21_01} SAMARIA: The Woman At The Well {GOB_21_02} Just stop me if you've heard this one before. {GOB_21_03} Just kidding -- here's a part you have to tell {GOB_21_04} to cover all the standard Jesus lore. {GOB_21_05} Just rhyming, folks. You think that "lore" is false -- {GOB_21_06} tall tales and myths. But lore's just oral truth: {GOB_21_07} IN FLUX -- the fragments not nailed down. A waltz {GOB_21_08} around the room. Not trapped inside a booth ... {GOB_21_09} ... by heavy friends who won't let you get out {GOB_21_10} to chat up that cute girl who's at the bar {GOB_21_11} with something else to add without a doubt. {GOB_21_12} (Boke's picturing a skinny TV star.) {GOB_21_13} AT LAST, A METAPHOR! God pats Boke's back. {GOB_21_14} Then for that Paris thought, his head a smack.

	GOSPEL OF BOKE {22 of 154} -- by BOKE (duh!) {GOB_22_01} GOD SAYS he's off to chat with Dean once more. {GOB_22_02} "That boy needs lots of help -- that nasty pack {GOB_22_03} of Democrats won't listen to Al Gore {GOB_22_04} and Bushy-Dem is such a sorry sack ..." {GOB_22_05} The Lord goes mumbling out, but Boke's still here {GOB_22_06} to wrap this day's eleven, and to pray {GOB_22_07} Americans will swallow wisdom's beer, {GOB_22_08} spit out the bullshit they believe today. {GOB_22_09} Boke's guitar callouses, I hope return {GOB_22_10} from I've-No-Time-To-Play town. We sure need {GOB_22_11} a song to sing, an MP3 to burn {GOB_22_12} into our minds -- so Boke won't have to bleed ... {GOB_22_13} ... the same blood ev'ry week. Christ shouts, "Just once {GOB_22_14} is quite enough to suffer." He's no dunce.