Making Up for Lost Time

Making Up for Lost Time

(“They make strict rules and try to force people to obey them. But they themselves will not try to follow any of those rules.” Matthew 23:4)

You make so many assertions that
they pile up like
sand dunes
leaving us to shovel our way out to
the light of day.
You stand atop the mounds like
triumphant kings
guarding against insurrections while
you coerce new converts to
“stand over there”
while you drown them in sand
all over again.

You leave them tied up in knots
while you string them along.
You patter on like geniuses about
angels and pins, sacrifices and sins,
while you dine behind passwords and
gated walls.

You hide it from them until the
weight benumbs them, and they think
god must enjoy a creation that is too
heavy to bear.

Between the poverty of your insinuations
and the wealth of encyclopedic rules you insist
they memorize, not flip through,
there is a completely unreasonable world
where

Weights are lifted,
sight-lines are shifted,
sand is sifted to build better beaches
where play is allowed
day in, day out
by the unruly spirit

That God has breathed into the world.

Take my hand, we will dance until the
we fall down laughing and crying,
making up for lost time spent
learning the steps from an instruction book.