The Least and Latest

The Least and Latest

(But He answered them, “You give them something to eat!”) Mark 6:37

You have more than you possess,
there is more than what you see,
there are mountains beyond the mountains,
brothers outside the circle,
and the universe waits for you to walk
past the borders without fiat. Your fate awaits
past your cement bubble.

The least likely is your provider,
the hidden are your leaders,
the dark green and gray that we throw away
are the banquet of the forest and the beginning of the day.

But we were waiting for the hour to end, the dust to settle,
and the buzzing crowd and mosquitoes to march back home.
We only saw the mouths and heard the complaints,
wondered if the clouds would turn the whole scene into
another unruly Woodstock with nothing in our hands.

You are more than you remember,
you will be loved beyond the river,
you are faint sketches now of the masterpiece
of the ages.
You’ve lived on adages and acorns,
not truth and aged oaks,
and you shorten your hand, hide your heart,
and hope to go home before the thunderstorms hit.

The child will lead them and sing with the wolf,
the invisible will dance to the music you dismissed,
the pinks and greens that most blink away
are the party in the desert where enemies once played.

Do not wait, the crowds are hungry. Do not tire, the children are ready.
Embrace the frayed edges, feed them first and front. They are the beloved,
the least and latest in the line of neighbors
Christ has invited upon the hills of plenty that
he will provide.