Poems for Sunday, February 8, 2026 Feat. Rachel Lynne Sakashita

Isaiah 58:1-12 & Matthew 5:13-20

Photo by Amanda Talstra (Instagram @seizingjoy)

Modern Clarion by Rachel Lynne Sakashita
After Isaiah 58:1-12

You perform for justice as you strain
a dreary tenth from all you own, 
you call for a toast to righteousness 
and clink a glass against the 
widows and the fatherless, 
you speak of Me to your neighbor 
only so you may assuage your guilt 
over never before having done so, 
and you implore Me to notice it. 

Do not be mistaken: 
I desire so much less and so 
much more. Confess to Me 
your unmoved heart, and I 
will break it in a thousand ways 
like a farmer tills soil. O silent child, 
please find rest in Me, at long 
last be shattered, bowing in defeat 
to the mercy and joy you once fled.

---

Easily Contaminated by Drew D. West
After Matthew 5:13-20

The earliest harvests
of salt were much like
the condition of my life:
easily contaminated.

Full of fragments and bits
that only get
in the way.

O Teacher, cleanse me.
May my life illuminate
and magnify love 
that makes new.

---

Thank you for reading Sunday Poems. If any of these words have spoken to you, I invite you to share them with your community—friends, small groups, or anyone who might find joy in poems that walk alongside the heart of the biblical story.

---