The Night the Sauerkraut Exploded

A POEM

By R. Faricy | December 1983

The night the sauerkraut

Exploded we were all

Asleep. In dreams we heard

The awful noise of vats

Of sauerkraut that blew

Apart; the sealed tight

And under pressure vats

Exploded sauerkraut.

Awaking later what

We found was that the room

We’d stored with vats was strewn

With happy festal strings

And gay confettied bits

Of sauerkraut. The room

Was rearranged to make

Another space and time.

I think the world’s end

Will be like that: a vat

Exploding under pressure. We

Will be asleep and hear

It in our troubled dreams,

Then wake to what awaits.

Song of God’s Body

Who is this alive from heaven, hidden

Beneath the Church’s bread,

Who comes in sacramental…

Sonnet

“Walk circumspectly, and redeem the time

Because the days are evil,” said Saint Paul.

And…

A Poet under the Mercy

Many of Vanauken’s poems are reminiscent of Browning, Donne, the early Charles Williams, and others, in style, tone, and theme.