Exposed: A Poem of Passage
In the first weeks of the pandemic, I was feeling exposed, not just to the corona virus but to my own human condition, my own dependence on the things of the world and my human frailty. God started showing me all the things I fill up my day with, and then in an instant, they were taken away. Perhaps you can identify some of the angst that accompanied the news. It is my desire for this poem to speak hope into your life in the midst of this devastating pandemic.
Exposed
What do you do when winter,
clings to your soul?
And a virus seeps into your spirit?
When the clouds darken on the horizon
And the earth turns to ashen grey?
What do you do when
The Book of Job’s sufferings
becomes your daily experience?
As each blessing is ripped from your
hands—friends, family, and possessions?
When your skins bubbles with the boils
of fear and panic?
What do you do when all is Exposed?
When the many gods you installed
Are shut down—theatre, sports, entertainment,
dining out and travel, among others.
And you are left
Naked in the dust like Job
On a pile of ashes.
Pointing fingers did not help him
nor will they aide us.
Our loves no longer breath
their substandard life into us.
Who will then come to our rescue?
When hope lies in the grave.
Parts of families hunker down, split like limbs
from the tree of life.
They sit like the ungrateful dead,
Huddled and glued to bad news,
As if it were their food?
We make our false accusations
And shake our fists at God
Against He who has made us.
Lift up your voice, O naked one.
Cry out to God our maker,
When all is stripped away,
And you stand exposed to your own fragility.
Listen to the song of the morning dove
Let spring slowly unfurl
Your soul.
As all heaven and earth lift their
Budding limbs in joyous praise!
Let your Creator, God
Heal your spirit’s wounds.
Let the song of His Son
Wash away your boils.
Let his living waters cascade
into your deepest, darkest caverns.
Let all the idols and the pain
in the recesses of your soul
Be EXPOSED.
Run to Him as a little child,
and offer your fistful of dandelions,
Bring ALL to the Light of His
Forgiveness and grace.
And join in the
Halleluiah chorus.
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