Experimenting with "Blackout Psalms"

As part of his practice of "Counting the Omer," Rabbi Rami Shapiro is using the Psalms and the Ten Commandments as base texts for "blackout" or erasure poetry. (For more info on this, check out his Substack post of April 1). 

He explains: “Blackout poetry dates back to Caleb Whiteford, a neighbor of Benjamin Franklin, who published redacted versions of local broadsides to reveal humorous new meanings ‘hidden’ within the text. Centuries later, the Dada movement and Beat Poets extensively used blackout poetry…

“Here’s how the method words: Get a copy of the Psalms. Grab a marker. Pick a Psalm. Read it quickly to get a sense of the words. Without overthinking, blackout words and all verse numbers, leaving only the words you like. What remains is a new revelation.”

This experiment appeals to me, so I am going to start doing it with the psalms used as responsorials for the daily Catholic Mass. I started with a psalm for Good Friday; today I worked with one of the many psalms used for Holy Saturday. 

I "cheat" slightly by allowing myself to first black out (or select those lines that I love), and then revise slightly as I wish. NOTE: For these first two blackout psalms, I have used the New Living Translation of the Bible, but for the second one I brought in a bit of inspiration from the King James translation. As Rabbi Rami has replaced the word "Lord" with "Havayah" (a kabbalistic name for the Divine), I am giving myself the challenge to use other names for "Lord" or "God" as well. 

Also: I notice that Rabbi Rami is using The Holy Scriptures, Tanach, published in 1917, to avoid copyright issues. I suppose I could use a Scripture version published before 1931 (the latest year for publications to be deemed public domain), and maybe I will start doing that, too -- although I'm not claiming to be the original author of these, anyway ... so it shouldn't be an issue, right? Here we go:

Blackout Psalm 31 (for Good Friday)

Beholder of all,
have mercy on us.

Tears blur our eyes.
Our bodies and souls
wither away,
surrounded by terror.

See our troubles!
Rescue us!
Shelter us
In Your presence!

In panic we cry out—
Sustainer,
we are cut off from You!
But you hear our plea
and respond:

Love,
Be strong and courageous.
Your hope rests
In My mercy.

Blackout Psalm 104 (for Holy Saturday)

Honor
the starry curtain of the heavens, Beloved;
ride upon wings of wind.

Make springs pour water into the ravines
so streams gush down from the mountains
and the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Birds nestle beside the streams
and sing among the branches of the trees.

Fill Earth with the fruit of Your labor:
Plants for people to use,
wine to make them glad,
oil to soothe their skin,
bread to give them strength.

High in the mountains
the moon marks the seasons
and the sun knows when to set.

O Bearer, what treasures You have made!
In wisdom you created them all.
Earth is full of your creatures:
Give them food as they need it.
Open Your hands to feed them,
and they are deeply satisfied.

Take pleasure in all of this, Beloved.
The earth trembles at Your glance;
the mountains smolder at Your touch.

I will sing of Your love as long as I live
and my silences shall be sweet
for I rejoice in You.

May all that I am praise!