HP Rivers

  • A Blessing for Month 19

    When loveFeels like the trenchesAnd the only way outIs through hell –And you have seen enough of hell,Thank-you-VERY-much –And giving upIs the onlyLessDesirable option – Breathe. Be heldBy whatever-the-fuck-in-Godde’s-nameHas carried you this far. And rest there.

    HP Rivers

  • A Testimony – A Sermon on Coming Out, Being a Queer UU, and Beloved Community

    The reading omitted from the video is “Angels of the Get Through” by Andrea Gibson When I first visited my home church, the minister told me she believes in God on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and alternate weekends. I didn’t believe in God at all. I was raised kind of Catholic and kind of nondenominational Christian…

    HP Rivers

  • Feet

    I wash my own feet, And I think nothing of it – It is a mundane thing But it does make me wonder If radical love Need not be radical – It does make me think That the most radical way We can love another Is to love their mundane, Worship their everyday, Revere their…

    HP Rivers

  • Fog

    Inspired by and dedicated to my beloved and brilliant friend, JeKaren, who always reminds me that joy and resilience are spiritual practices. “Fog lifts. We lift. We find what we are looking for with our hands if not our eyes. I think we have to keep asking ourselves where is the joy? JeKaren Olaoya Joy…

    HP Rivers

  • Body

    The priest says,“This is the body of Christ”And I watch, wide eyed,As my grandfatherHumbly accepts the offeringOn his tongue. I wonder what Jesus tastes like. The priestess says,“May you never thirst”And I humbly accept the wine,Transmuted intoThe water of the wombThat held Jesus ChristAnd I wonderAbout Christ’s body. I wonder about his sweat,The itching of…

    HP Rivers

  • Meatballs

    Every time I make meatballs I think of my grandmothers. I wonder how far down the trunk Of my family tree One would have to travel To find the first woman In my lineage Who made meatballs For her family. It is not a family recipe I found it on the internet And changed it…

    HP Rivers

  • A Prayer for Election Week

    Goddess, Spirit, God,Love of many names,of no names,and of names too intimate to speak –grant us comfort,for we are all living with fear. Yes, all of us –those who whimper,those who hyperventilate,those who disengage,those whose anger and vitriolbetray the terrorlurking beneath our confidence. May we all rest. May we surrenderto the beauty of our dreams,to…

    HP Rivers