Flood Waters

Flood Waters    5/30/2018 

They who rob

A child of dignity

Will reap a harvest

In hell. 

And they who

Shame the injured

Shall doubly dying

Scream out in pain. 

Even words can hurt

And no amount of soap

Can wash clean

The damage of shame

And rejection. 

This and more

Many suffer

So who am I

To complain? 

But I can only write

What it is I know

That feeling upon my head

Unmistakable

And unforgettable. 

We can either

Build each other up

Or we can tear

Us all apart 

Never knowing

All that might have been. 

She didn’t know all that I was

And she didn’t wait to try

Weighed, measured,

And hung out to dry. 

We had only just begun

But I was cut off

In the middle

Barely scratching the surface

Of all I could be.

And it was also then

That I was the wounded

Caught unaware

And cut in two.  

At my lowest moment

Mocked and provoked

As if some could gain pleasure

In cruelty

And suffering. 

I had only tried to save

While they sought to steal

Judged to be less

Than a  liar

And a thief.

Looking backwards

The words burned on the brain

I think about what it means

To lose or to gain. 

Head down and dying

We revisit the past

Always reminded

That we are less

And that we have lost. 

Every name

And every picture

Every post

And every thought. 

Deliberately erased

And forgotten

Abandoned by those
I loved and bathed. 

Who would do such a thing

Even to those they hated

Stripped of all dignity

And mired in shame. 

If a person must go

Than that is

What they do

But why would anyone

Humiliate and destroy. 

I paid the price

For others comfort

Taking on the burden

And obligations. 

Crushed under the weight

And left along the roadway

Nothing but a dirty tissue

Thrown out with the trash. 

But in time

We learn

And with living

We grow. 

Looking at the same day

From a million different angles

With the perspective of time

And prayer. 

Day in

And day out

Morning, noon,

And night.

Over and over gain

For what it seems like forever

The hours pass over

And the waters pass under.

Healing happens

But not in the way

I once thought

But slowly we see

And awaken. 

Everything has meaning

Even this

And even now

The test in and of itself

Growing us

From the inside out. 

I am free

Free to do anything

Unafraid of man

And all he thinks. 

Clean from guilt

And at peace with regret

All that I tried to save

And with all I lost. 

The Lord who set me free

Also is the judge

The last and the first to decide

Between anyone and me. 

Always there

With me under his wings

Lifting me up

At the just the perfect time. 

Loving me

When I hated myself

And healing every wound

Better than before. 

Soon enough

We will see

What it is that we felt

The truth bursting forth

In a rush of truth

And a flood of light.  

 

Banishment

Banishment                                 5/30/2018

Tentacles reach out

And spread everywhere

All leading back

To the center of death. 

Slithering forth

And squeezing through

The ever searching evil

Looking for food. 

Feeding on the blood of innocents

And dining upon the flesh

Dutifully serving their master

In sacrificial ecstasy.

An open secret

Dangled before our eyes

But only for the seekers

And the searchers.

At the center of it all

You can see the terrifying truth

The same old pride,

Hatred and murder. 

The dumb go on

And the blind

Fumble in the dark

Led by the nose

Unto death. 

Prodded by punishment

And the threat of rejection

Herded into chutes

On their way to the end. 

But there are

Far worse things

Than banishment

Or loss of good opinions.

For what does it matter

If they hate me

Because they already do

And always have. 

Many a fool

Will still seek

The good graces

Of mediocre men. 

Let them go on

And let them ride high

For time waits for no one

And it won’t wait for them. 

Something far larger awaits

And it is in him

That I rely

Unshakeable

And undefeated. 

Snake Pit

Snake Pit             5/29/2018

It is a silent war

That no one dares to acknowledge

Fought largely without weapons

Yet none the less
More deadly than guns. 

A silent siege

Waged against

The unknowing

Slowly but surely

Killing us all. 

Chipping away

At our last shred of dignity

And cutting away

Identity and strength. 

Cutting out from under

And penalizing every effort

The self-flagellating tools

Everywhere you look. 

Every sector

And every institution

Simultaneously infiltrated

And weaponized.

Every day

In every way

The weight of the world

Crushing down

A certain people

And a certain faith. 

Once you see it

You cannot look away

The obvious angle

In every possible medium.

Make no mistake

The snake head speaks

For all who have sold their souls

Swallowed down and dead. 

The truth silenced

And the good punished

All for telling the truth

Over and over again. 

Can you feel the teeth

All around your neck

All over but for a miracle

The good and the great. 

A few stand

Now watch how they are punished

While others go on

With blood on their hands. 

Lord, let it all come out

The whole horrible truth

The truly evil

And truly hateful. 

The murderers in our midst

And the snake in the pit

Exposed for all eternity

The truth we always knew

Deep in the heart.