Offended
By
Suffering
Taut cheek lines
The heaviness of the world in upheaval
The dread of my own lot
The riots, the tear gas, the looting, the shooting, the lies, the widows, the hope, the militia, the rumors, the protests, the street strewn with corpses
Where is the blood that doesn’t stain,
The life that doesn’t die,
The breath that doesn’t wane?
The king whose scepter is righteousness
Who hates wickedness and loves
Justice
Show me this One that came
Not to remove pain
But to show the way through
The valley of shadow
The well-laid table
Surely
Goodness and mercy on my heels
Oh, to ever be a firebrand
marked by love.
