Dead Things Poem by Deborah Dalton

This is a part of a collection of poems and prose chronicling the poets response to messages shared from Palm Sunday 2014 to Palm Sunday 2015, 'Life After the Resurrection'.

'So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we've left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn't you realize we packed up and left there for good? That's what baptism into the life of Jesus Christ means.' ~ Romans 6: 1-4

On this bright and cheery Easter Monday, I am sitting here reflecting on the transformative beauty of The Resurrection and,18 years ago, DJ Kool recorded a song at the Bahama Bay Club in Philadelphia that is jubilantly ringing in my head 'Let me Clear My Throat'.

It is a party-starter rap over the instrumental mix 'The 900 Number' (from the album Master of the Game, produced by The 45 King,1988-Tuff City Records) which in turned sampled a horn riff after the first 10 seconds of Marva Whitney's 'Unwind Yourself' (from the album It's Your Thing, produced by James Brown-King Records) .

Why?

Because I now feel like I am standing at the divine genesis of the formation of my voice. I believe that everything that I have been doing (or endured) up to this point has been a deliberate method of clearing out debris and warming up my ‘cords' so I can now publically and authentically express.

Anybody who uses their voice as a tool knows the importance of throat clearing in order to project a strong, in-tune voice. And mine was being hindered by the mucus like impaction of dead things that I refused to bury. Things that I refused to reach a peaceful acceptance of their demise.

There is no Resurrection without a death. Death must be recognized and properly dealt with for new things to appear.