THE FIRST LETTER OF PAUL TO THE CHURCH OF [NAME WITHHELD ON ADVICE OF COUNSEL]

by Matthew E. Henry (MEH)

from Paul—a prisoner to the gospel of God—to all those 

across the Eastern Ocean who have named themselves 

after Christ, consider themselves His most holy people. 

 

doubtless you have heard of the bonds of our brother, 

Pastor Daniel Fuentes Espinal who, born in Honduras, 

heeded God’s call to minster among you in Maryland 

for over a decade. heard how he was stalked and taken 

into the unholy hands of masked men on the road between 

Lowes’ and McDonald’s. was shackled into the belly 

of their beast, but preached the fruits of repentance—his hope

of their finding forgiveness in Jesus—to his captors 

from his car to the cell they anonymously threw him in.

 

when such reached my ear, my spirit was greatly troubled, 

but I took comfort assured that you—his siblings in Christ—

were firmly knit in condemning such actions, tied in the unity

of securing his release from imprisonments worse than mine. 

that no disagreements could cut the knot of our fellowship. 

I was astonished to hear some among you have raised your voice

against our brother on social media, confident in the baffling belief 

our refugee Savior—who fled Judea for Egypt—would stand 

within the invisible lines you’ve drawn about both His kingdoms.

 

given all we hold holy, how in the Hell—you so vehemently 

sentence others to—have you allowed Phillip Doug to say 

our brother “is not a victim if he is in our country illegally”? or 

tolerate Todd James—a supposed minister of the Grace 

of God—claims that “Christians who have illegal paperwork 

are getting sent back to their country so they can preach the gospel

and lay their life down like the apostles did”? Miller Tonee rejoices 

that people in his congregation are self-deporting. Herb Jimzel—

whose bio proclaims he spreads God's love to orphans, the poor, 

and to those with no hope—says his family came here legally—

in all caps, with three exclamation points—sees no contradiction 

between our brother’s treatment and “the word of God.” Shawn Dale

says pastor Espinal should be glad he wasn’t shot. 

 

though I once warned the Philippians to beware the devious bitches 

in their midst and wished botched circumcisions to scar my detractors 

in Galatia, I’m uncharacteristically at a loss for words to address 

those reprobate minds who forget our brother’s skin looks more like 

our shared Savior’s than what they feign. fiery indignation scalds

my tongue to near-silence least I scandalize those of you who allow 

such slander to continue. 

 

hear the word of the LORD, set your house in order. God is faithful—

He will see to His servant, but will also remember and repay all you

have and not done, especially to those within the household of faith.

Editor’s note: This poem includes actual quotations found on social media in response to the story of Pastor Daniel, but the names of the authors of those quotations have been changed… on advice of counsel as well.

Author’s note: You can help free Pastor Daniel Fuentes Espinal by supporting his GoFundMe.

Matthew E. Henry (MEH) is the author of six poetry collections, most recently said the Frog to the scorpion. He is an educator and editor who received his MFA yet continued to spend money he didn’t have completing an MA in theology and a PhD in education. He writes about education, race, religion, and burning oppressive systems to the ground at www.MEHPoeting.com

WHAT DO WE DO NOW?

by Karen Marker

Awdah Hathaleen

An Israeli settler has shot and killed a well-known Palestinian activist whose work was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” according to witnesses, the latest deadly episode in the Israeli-occupied territory. The activist, Awdah Hathaleen, 31, was an English teacher from the southern West Bank village of Umm al-Khair. Footage he filmed was included in the documentary, which depicted the challenges Palestinians living in the territory face under Israeli rule. —The New York Times, July 29, 2025

An Israeli man whose sanctions were lifted by US President Donald Trump was seen firing a gun at the time of Hathaleen's killing, and has been arrested... It has emerged that Hathaleen was denied entry to the US just last month. He and his cousin were turned back at San Francisco International Airport despite having visas for a peace tour sponsored by faith groups. —WION, July 29, 2025

Let us paint murals
on our temple walls 
like Maxo Vanco did 
inside St. Nicholas Croatian 
Catholic Church in the 1930’s.

Let us make our Palestinian
Mother like Mary who looks 
like us holding a child
who looks like ours
but wasted from starving.
Let her eyes pierce
the hearts of those
who say this 
doesn’t really happen.

Let us paint murals
of all the mothers 
gathered in grief
around their beloved 
sons’ bodies, and the body
of our friend in the South 
Hebron Hills, six weeks ago 
turned back at the SF airport, 
a valid visa in hand, 
two days ago shot in the chest
by a settler in his village.

Let all the unbelievers
see the footage of the murderer
who has been repeatedly
pardoned for crimes. 

Let us paint the Angel of Justice.
Remember this is the time 
for breaking the silence.

Oakland, CA  poet Karen Marker is a social activist and retired school psychologist whose poetry has been published in numerous anthologies and journals including The MacGuffin, The Monterey Poetry Review, the Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, WordPeace, and Slant Poetry. It can also be found in the Kent State University May 4^th Special Collections and Archives. Her first poetry book Beneath the Blue Umbrella came out recently with Finishing Line Press and explores family mental illness, stigma and healing. 

JULIO

by Judy Strang

Screenshot provided by the poet’s son from the video he recorded.

My son told me 

he’d put on his vest and 

hooked the phone into the chest pocket facing out, 

pressed video, then strode across the narrow city street. 

That was his spontaneous choice, 

just home from his night shift, 

after parking his car across from his apartment,

after seeing two masked figures accost a person on the sidewalk.

 

In his paramedic suit and bullet proof vest with the phone-on-video,

he told them his name and pointed to his photo badge. 

He asked them to identify themselves,

looked at their badges—photo-less, flimsy, 

“Those could be printed on Etsy,” he said, “How do I know who you are?” 

They would not answer. But he got the name of the person they were taking, 

who gave it to him freely. 

My son yelled at the masked faces, “Take off your masks. 

Show us who you are.” 

And he yelled it again, venting his anger at their secrecy 

at their silence 

at their unjust power—

then it was over.

They had shoved the man into their unmarked car and were driving away.

 

My son told me

that’s when he let loose the language he’d wanted to spit in their faces. 

He threw it at their backs, watching the car disappear,

then stood there on the sidewalk, 

next to the door to the stairs leading to his apartment, 

and called the police. 

He waited for them to come so he could report the incident. 

A paramedic, he would speak his truth, 

“to serve human need, with respect for human dignity,”

and he would wonder what would happen 

to the man he would never see again 

whose name he would never forget

 

Judy Strang lives in the woods of Amherst County, VA, where she writes creative nonfiction, directs the Sourwood Forest artist residency program for the Pedlar River Institute, and works part time for the Harte Center for Teaching & Learning at Washington & Lee University (Lexington, VA). Her creative nonfiction, including What Holds Us Here: pieces from a place in the woods (Blackwell Press 2023), examines how humans understand (or not) their place within more-than-human nature. 

NOT JUST A DAY IN THE PARK

by Paul Lander

Poisoning pigeons

In your honor, rest easy
Mister Tom Lehrer

Paul Lander has worked as a writer and/or producer for shows on ABC, NBC, Showtime, The Disney Channel, ABC Family, VH1, LOGO and Lifetime. In addition, he’s written standup material that’s been performed on ‘Fallon,’ ‘Maher,’ ‘Daily Show,’ etc. His humor pieces have been accepted at American Bystander, Light: Poetry, Weekly Humorist, McSweeney‘s, and Humor Times. He has won awards from the National Soc. of Newspaper Columnists, London’s Blogger's Bash and Univ. of Dayton’s Bombeck Workshop.

WATERBOARDED

by Ben Evering

Cartoon by Ann Telnaes

Today

She’s a man, she said, sue her.

Epstein in the Trump files, sue them.

Climate change damages? Sue each other.

Not her, too thin.

Today

Too thin

Seven month old babies look like newborns

Promised food and shot

Limbless

Shot in the places they said were safe

By the weapons you sold to them

And you wrote a letter

the drip drip drip of the news waterboards me 

I wish I was drowning 

but I can swim

Ben Evering seeks clarity in complexity. They are a scientist in London, reading fiction and hoping for change.  

THE LOWEST CUT

by Darcy Grabenstein

Most folks mispronounce Wilkes-Barre, PA.
While the town is actually pronounced like “berry”
it now is living up to its butchered version: “bar” 
(the Diamond City ain’t shining so bright right now…)

That’s because Luzerne County has barred
Low Cut Connie from performing at the town’s 
Rockin’ the River event for “political” reasons (wink, wink)

Methinks it’s due to his song, “Livin in the USA.”
It’s about deportations, making people disappear
and now Luzerne County has made him disappear (their loss)

The irony is that the band was banned, replaced
by Halfway to Hell, whose leader was convicted
of raping a teenager (sound familiar?)

The irony continues.
At Low Cut Connie concerts, frontman Adam Weiner
waxes poetic about love and diversity (oops, strike that word)

I’ll admit that cutting Low Cut Connie can’t be equated
with cutting Medicaid, free school lunches, and other “woke” programs
Yet it still cuts me to the core. (I am gutted)

We certainly are halfway to hell.

A marketing writer by profession, Darcy Grabenstein turns to poetry as a creative and cathartic outlet. The theme of social (in)justice runs through many of her poems, and she longs for the day where her page will finally be blank.

IT’S NOT (YET) TOO LATE (MAYBE)

by Katy Z. Allen

Gazans Are Dying of Starvation. —The New York Times, July 24, 2025

AI-generated graphic by NightCafé for The New Verse News.

A monarch butterfly flutters among the bushes and flowers beside the pond.

Memories rise up: 

a transformational summer in Jerusalem studying Hebrew;

the power of my first experience of the Kotel;

a summer rabbinic seminar at the Shalom Hartman Institute;

visits with my future mother-in-law in Tel Aviv, and later, in Kfar Saba; 

bicycling the shaded byways of the Hula Valley and quiet desert roads of the Negev in support of “nature knows no borders.”

A pond blanketed with giant American Lotus leaves and blossoms spreads out before the eye.

Netanyahu, State of Israel,

it’s not yet too late. (Maybe.)

You still have time to change course,

to save your souls, 

and the souls of all Israelis,

and the souls all the Jews spread out 

around the planet;

you still have time to remember that G?d created every single human being on this planet

and that they are all sacred 

in the eyes of the Holy One of Blessing;

you still have time.

Tall spikes of purple and white showy tick-trefoil mingle with abundant Queen Anne’s lace.

You have the power, the knowledge, and the ability 

to send massive amounts of medical supplies and food to Gaza,

to guard them from Hamas with your troops,

and to feed and treat 

and save the lives of thousands of ordinary starving Gazans,

who are trapped by your inhumanity.

You still have time.

A great blue heron stands silently, gazing into the water, listening, waiting.

It’s not too late. Yet.

But before long it will be.

And then you will have not only 

the blood of many, many more children, women, and men on your hands and your hearts,

but you will have desecrated all that is sacred and holy of Eretz Yisrael;

you will have violated every one of the 613 mitzvot in the Torah,

if not by the letter of the law,

then most certainly by its spirit;

you will have lost and abandoned your humanity,

as individuals and as a country;

you will be deserving, 

(painful as it will be to watch), 

of every single bit of retribution that will come your way;

you will have destroyed the Jewish people and state more completely 

than Hamas could ever have dreamed of doing by itself;

you will have deserted your people,

your country,

and your G!d.

A pair of black and yellow swallowtail butterflies spiral upward in a dance of unity.

Katy Z. Allen is a lover of the more-than-human world, retired rabbi of an outdoor congregation, co-founder of a Jewish climate organization, eco-chaplain, and writer since the age of eight. Her poetry has appeared in The New Verse News and The Jewish Poets Collective Journal. Her poetic book, A Tree of Life: A Story in Word, Image, and Text was published by Strong Voices Publishing.