The Reckoning Blew In

 

The Reckoning Blew In

(“But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21:28)

It all happened before we had a minute
to change our shoes;
the reckoning blew in on the northwest wind
and asked what time zone we thought we were living in.
We did not answer, we were alright,
we had been gazing upward most of the night.

We’re comfy here, we’ve made our living,
we empty our pockets every time they preach
about giving. But we still have enough to spare;
our boats are bobbing in the river,
our trucks are parked with guns in the rear.

Ask us about the south and the past,
about the north and the handicrafted biases
baked in to the system,
and we might explode because we are righteous,
we have voted so piously we have to defend it with
mediocrity.
We will never admit our chosen president
could be the one impediment to freedom for
anyone but us.

It all happened while we were tuned in to the latest
hand-clapping hymns for the children and beginners
on the radios that now searched the heavens;
the calculation fell like fire from the sky
and asked us why we hated books that told the truth,
took our shifts at the poll booths harassing everyone who
caught the fish in the river before our feet touched the shore.
We love statues of Columbus and tributes to Dixie
and worry our fingers to the bone whether we have committed
the unpardonable sin. (We hope not; who could begin to express
how many times we have averted our eyes from pornography,
or apologized for missing a month of Sundays? We YouTube
the truth these days.)

And from far away the die is cast while we are standing front to last;
we could have been one heart with the sins of our past that
silenced original voices and
kidnapped chattel
like destiny and the bible
told us so.

It is their redemption that is drawing near!