We Might Have Been There

We Might Have Been There

(“Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his—his people, the sheep of his pasture.” Psalm 100:3)

Depleted,
exhausted,
gazing across the land everything looked
like a flatfish lying on desert sand. We might
have been there to forget.

Rising,
enlivened,
embracing the entire scene, help was sent,
sweet like the refrain of a lover’s serenade.
We might
have been there for the sunset.

You don’t use tear gas on congregants who gather in the streets,
just to prop up
your next photo-op
and pose like the king of crosses that only burn.

But there is one that gathers crowds, tosses joy, plays catch
with girls and boys who don’t understand a word that is said.
There is one who eschews military tactics, has no throne or palace,
but leads the muddy to living waters and the barren to
emerald fields.

Awakened,
agnostic,
hearing the late show commercials and feeling old
like it was time to finally learn how to touch. We might
have been there to speak up.