A Little Power

A Little Power

(“I know what you do; I know that you have a little power; you have followed my teaching and have been faithful to me. I have opened a door in front of you, which no one can close.” Revelation 3:8)

She stumbled, famished and fatigued, not because
she was weak, but her strength had been used
following the narrow road which lead to the craggy peak
where the storehouse of favor was kept.

Yet others, starting later, insisted she stand on her own,
thought her eyes were hollow, her breath shallow and
her heart
pounding so loud it echoed off the circuit of judges
around her.

She could barely turn her head, let alone keep her children fed,
and left her home years ago to follow a dream she hoped would speed
the promises that hard work pays off in the end.

But, for a season, her legs forsook her, her sight blurred and
silence stirred where once the music sent her dancing on her way,
this day and the next, closer to the summit, further towards the crest
where she would show them, finally, that she was as strong as
all the rest.

She was not near death, though she might have welcomed it;
instead she felt every unspoken thought, every backward glance
that suspected she indeed was like
all the rest

Who live in cardboard houses and pay for groceries with stamps.

She had started alone, the crowd carried each other’s weight,
she was on her own. And upon their offer of help her eyes brightened.

Just the thought renewed a moment’s strength until…

They requested, kindly of course, that she be tested for drugs and
the tendency to cheat because they had their numbers in a row,
and they were tired of paying for the poor who seemed
to always buy more than they needed.

No one remembered words about giving two coats when asked for one,
a second mile following the first one,
and freely giving for we who started later, in our vigor,
had freely received, after all.