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

MEMO FROM THE PRINCIPAL OF ANTONIN SCALIA HIGH SCHOOL, CHARITY OK

RE: AMENDED COURSE OF STUDY FOR THE 2024-25 ACADEMIC YEAR

by Matthew E. Henry

AI-generated photograph of the Library of our fictitious Antonin Scalia High School

Oklahoma’s State Superintendent Requires Public Schools to Teach the Bible. —The New York Times, June 27, 2024

happy final days of summer. as you can imagine, central office

has been inundated with queries on how you—our intrepid educators—

will meet superintendent Walter’s mandate to immediately “incorporate

the Bible…as an instructional support.” while the Bible has important 

cultural, literary, political, and spiritual significance, most educators                                                                       

outside the English and social studies departments are unsure how 

to accomplish this without running afoul of parents, the school board, 

the dept of education, state senators, the ACLU, and the myriad

acronymed mother groups multiplying in our midst. the admin team,

with help from your dept heads, composed the suggestions below.

divided by content area, the following should be read as inspiration,

not limitations to your academic freedom. the endnotes are provided

only as a resource, should you choose to familiarize yourselves with the texts. 

 

Drama/Performance Arts: students can compose monologues 

on the benefits of feigning mental illness,¹ stage a morality play 

focusing on the perils of drunken fathers being sexually assaulted 

by their children,² or send up a musical about a king singing 

and dancing before his subjects, his penis flapping in the wind.³

 

Foreign Languages: compose conversational scenarios imparting 

the importance of language as a means of bridging cultural gaps,⁴

communing with spiritual beings,⁵ and mitigating the slaughter 

of 42,000 people for mispronouncing a Hebrew word.⁶

 

Government/Economics: stage a mock trial for a woman who 

grabbed the penis of the naked man dominating her husband 

in a physical altercation—should her hand be cut off without pity?⁷

host a debate on the fairness of a prophet being mauled by a lion 

for not disfiguring another prophet.⁸ present case studies of God 

smearing fecal matter on the faces of corrupt politicians⁹ and 

how acts of personal violence are Jesus’ preferred method 

of addressing the harms of unfettered, exploitative capitalism.¹⁰

 

Health/Sex Education: have students build interactive websites 

or slide decks on donkey-sized dicks with horse-volume emissions,¹¹

the nature of wet dreams,¹² reasons for avoiding menstruating women,¹³

the risks of ‘pulling out’ as a birth control method,¹⁴ and how to craft 

sex toys from precious metals.¹⁵

 

Home Economics: experiment with recipes for barley bread baked

with pellets of human waste,¹⁶ mixed drinks appropriate for political 

assassinations,¹⁷ and patterns for sewing sackcloth coverings 

for repentant cows.¹⁸

 

Mathematics: construct word problems to calculate the number of nights 

one could survive in a big fish,¹⁹ how many horsemen are needed 

for apocalyptic destruction,²⁰ how large a skin-scarf one could quilt

from 200 Philistines foreskins,²¹ and the means of equally distributing—

around a set geographic region—the remains of a woman gang-r*ped 

to death and then hacked to pieces by her husband.²²

 

Physical Education: teach the importance of conditioning by placing 

students in the athletic shoes of the murdered prophets of Baal²³

or the young men unable to escape bears sent to avenge the bald prophet 

they mocked.²⁴ dodge ball can be supplemented with a mini-lesson 

on throwing the infants of one’s enemies against jagged rocks.²⁵

 

Science Classes: students can calculate the impact of a boy falling 

from a window after dozing off during a sermon that ran too long,²⁶

and the amount of refracted light needed to prevent another watery geocide.²⁷

they can also determine the physical and chemical changes needed 

to liquify a golden statue enough for forced human consumption,²⁸

and the active ingredients in a potion to impel hysterectomies.²⁹

 

Speech/Rhetoric Class: suggest the usefulness of ad homien attacks,

such as referring to your enemies as aborted fetuses³⁰ and openly praying

they fall victim to botched circumcisions.³¹

 

once again, these are only suggestions. if you have any further questions, 

please bring them to the attention of your dept head, building admin, and 

the four new “biblical coaches” the district has hired to support you.

unrelated, recent budgetary concerns leave us unable to maintain

funding for professional development, academic conferences, and 

continuing education efforts of faculty for the foreseeable future.

here’s to a wonderful beginning of the school year: GO CRUSADERS!

 

11 Samuel 21:10-14 | 2 Genesis 9:20-27 and Genesis 19:31-38 | 3 2 Samuel 6:14-20 | 4 Genesis 11:1-9 | 5 1 Corinthians chapter 14 | 6 Judges 12:5-6 | 7 Deuteronomy 25:11-12 | 8 1 Kings 20:35-36 | 9 Malachi 2:1-3 | 10  John 2:13-17 | 11 Ezekiel 23:20 | 12 Deuteronomy 23:10 | 13 Leviticus15:19-30 | 14 Genesis 38:8-10 | 15 Ezekiel 16:17 | 16 Ezekiel 4:12 | 17 Judges 5:24-27 | 18 Jonah 3:7-10 | 19 Jonah chapter 2 | 20 Revelation 6:1-8 | 21 1 Samuel 18:27 | 22 Judges chapter 19 | ²³ 1 Kings 18:16-40 | 24 2 Kings 2:23-24 | 25 Psalm 137:8-9 | 26 Acts 20:7-9 | 27 Genesis 9:13-17| 28Exodus 32:20 | 29 Numbers 5:11-31 | 30 Psalms 58:8 | ³¹ Galatians 5:11-12.

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 .

THE BLUE ENVELOPE PROGRAM

by Matthew E. Henry

State police in Massachusetts have begun implementing a program to improve interactions with people on the autism spectrum, building upon legislation that won Senate approval in January and remains before a House committee. —WBUR, April 10, 2024

the purpose: to support drivers with autism spectrum disorders 

during traffic stops. to ensure more sensitive communication

by law enforcement, drivers with ASD will hand a blue-backed 

envelope containing their license, registration, and a checklist 

of tips for the officer(s) on scene.

 

as a teacher, I wonder how this new social skill is scaffolded—

who reviews and instructs in advance of the practical exam. 

being Black, I wonder if this effort to reduce anxiety and 

enhance understanding, gave any thought to differentiating 

for ASD motorists of color. who carefully cautions them on

 

 

how to avoid and maintain eye contact 

and knowing the inherent dangers of both

 

how to calmly comply with contradicting orders

 

how to remain silent while being screamed at 

 

how to contend with the confusion of sarcasm 

or being called “boy” when over the age of 12 

 

how to hold hands at 10 and 2 until told otherwise

 

how and where to store their blue envelope

 

how and where to store their blue envelope for safe retrieval 

 

how to retrieve their blue envelope safely

 

how to remain safe while retrieving their blue envelope

 

how to make no sudden movements while retrieving their blue envelope

 

how to retrieve their blue envelope while making no sudden movements

 

how to forget Steven Washington, Stephon Watts, 

Dainell Simmons, Troy Canales, Osaze Osagie, 

Matthew Rushin, Ryan Gainer, and…

Matthew E. Henry (MEH) is the author of six collections, including the Colored page and The Third Renunciation. He is editor-in-chief of The Weight Journal and an associate poetry editor at Pidgeonholes and Rise Up Review. The 2023 winner of the Solstice Literary Magazine Stephen Dunn Prize, MEH is an educator who received his MFA yet continued to spend money he didn’t have completing an MA in theology and a PhD in education. You can find him at www.MEHPoeting.com writing about education, race, religion, and burning oppressive systems to the ground.

ON WATCHING A REENACTMENT OF THE BOSTON TEA PARTY

by Matthew E. Henry

The Boston Tea Party Reenactment: On December 16, 2023, Boston will commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.

I was not prepared for how horrifying it feels to be Black 

and suddenly so pro-British. the desire to don a red coat, 

fingers itching to clutch a cartridge of ball and black powder. 

to lift a loyalist musket to shoulder and beset Boston Common 

or Lexington Green. the feeling even brother Crispus could catch 

a hot one were he to cross between Congress and State Streets today. 

 

if crows assemble in a quiet murder, and ravens collect

in a tranquil unkindness, what is a mass of frenzied 

white men? a mob, a riot, does so little justice. 

 

have you seen it? the screaming “sons of liberty”— these boys

proud in their covered faces, heads feathered and mohawked 

more than wearing tri-cornered hats. the ecstatic storming 

from a speech past ill-armed guards, hands aflame with torches.

 

have you seen it? fists, feet, bars, and axes shattering brown 

box heads, spilling loose leaf blood into the Harbor’s once 

placid waves. white rage decrying oppression through 

$1.7 million in adjusted destruction, hoping to make america

great. again, I am shocked how the echoes are almost enough 

to make me holler, “Long Live King George!”

Matthew E. Henry (MEH) is the author of six collections, including the Colored page and The Third Renunciation. He is editor-in-chief of The Weight Journal and an associate poetry editor at Pidgeonholes and Rise Up Review. The 2023 winner of the Solstice Literary Magazine Stephen Dunn Prize, MEH is an educator who received his MFA yet continued to spend money he didn’t have completing an MA in theology and a PhD in education. You can find him at www.MEHPoeting.com writing about education, race, religion, and burning oppressive systems to the ground.

WHEN ASKED WHAT SKILLS WE GAINED FROM SLAVERY

by MEH

how to run [from slave catchers, the klan, crooked cops,

especially when finding the distinction difficult]. how to

keep our own counsel. to code-switch. to sing songs

in mother-tongues they will emulate and sharecrop

in blackface or while ignoring their origin—jazz, blues,

rock and roll, R&B, rap. how to hide our babies from

[see original list], christening them with names proper

to replace stolen drums, lands, gods. how not to list

the skills we already possessed, were compelled to

employ—navigation, cultivation, curing smallpox—

knowing they will fall on ungrateful ears. how to turn

our every cheek. to be more Christ-like than those who

disgraced the religion they forced upon us. to embody

the fruits of the spirit—especially patience and self-

control—in arms, legs, backs chiseled in cottonfields,

defined by bearing the lash of injustice. how to refrain

from calling down a legion of angels, or easily poisoning

their food, or slitting an oppressor’s throat in their sleep,

at least for now.

Matthew E. Henry (MEH) is the author of six poetry collections including Teaching While Black (Main Street Rag, 2020) and the Colored page (Sundress Publications, 2022). He is editor-in-chief of The Weight Journal and an associate poetry editor at Pidgeonholes. MEH’s poetry appears or is forthcoming in The New Verse News, Cola Literary Review, The Florida Review, Massachusetts Review, Ninth Letter, Pangyrus, Ploughshares, Poetry East, Shenandoah, and The Worcester Review among others. MEH’s an educator who received his MFA yet continued to spend money he didn’t have completing an MA in theology and a PhD in education. You can find him at www.MEHPoeting.com writing about education, race, religion, and burning oppressive systems to the ground.