An Easter Meditation
By which also ye are saved, if ye keep

                   in memory what I preached unto you,

                   unless ye have believed in vain.
                                               —1 Corinthians 15:2
O my soul!
Be steadfast
in faithfulness
to the gospel —
Christ died for our sins,
was buried,
and rose again the third day.
O my heart!
Let my belief be impenetrable.
Let me always remember
humans cannot change
winter to spring,
or night to day,
or reach the Father
except through Christ.
O my free will!
Withstand the temptation
of irreverence.
Remember Adam and Eve.
For too long after the Fall
we hoped for redemption.
O hallelujah!
Today I rejoice with the faithful
in the Resurrection,
and the promise of life everlasting.

The Lilies on Easter Morning
By which also ye are saved,
if ye keep in memory…

—1 Corinthians 15:2

Standing tall
on bright green stems,
the pure white flowers
sway in the breeze,
signs of hope, joy,
renewed life!
Adorning
the churches
filled with worshipers,
the blossoms,
like trumpets
the angels sound,
remind us
of the good news
Paul urges us
never to forget,
He is risen!
Hallelujah!

A Beacon in The Tempest
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel

                which I preached unto you, which also ye have received,

                and wherein ye stand;
—1 Corinthians 15:1
O Corinth,
a ship tossed
on the stormy
sea of sin.
Disunity kept
you from the wheel.
Unholy living
shredded, stained
your white sails.
Lack of Christian love
smashed
your rudder.
As you floundered,
did you secretly pray
to Artemis and Apollo?
Paul shone the light
of the gospel
to help you right your
nearly wrecked hulk,
to correct your course,
to help you back
to steadfast belief
in Jesus’s resurrection —

the only way to keep
from drowning,
the only hope
of life everlasting.

Sylvia Riojas Vaughn is a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee. She has been selected as a Houston Poetry Fest Juried Poet three times.  She belongs to the Dallas Poets Community. Her work appears in The Arachneed Journal, Red River Review, Triadæ, HOUSEBOAT, Diálogo, Desde Hong Kong: Poets in conversation with Octavio Paz, Bearing the Mask: Southwestern Persona Poems (Dos Gatos Press, 2016), and anthologies and journals in the U.S. and abroad.