Holy Tuesday lament (Lamentations 1:17-22)

you stretch
            out
      your hands
   longing for someone
               (anyone)
   to grasp them
      tenderly,
         compassion's balm
         caressing the toughened
            pads of your palms;
      firmly,
         friendship's strength
         holding you tight in
                its grip;
      hopefully,
         another's heart
         swaddling your broken
               one . . .
   but
we slap them
                  away
      wishing you would
         just leave us
            alone.

you call to your
             lovers, those
   who have told you
      over and over
      that you are the
             one;
   who whisper words
      in the night which
         prove to be as
              empty
         as the chocolate
                   bunny
       bought for your basket;
   who stand before
   the world in our
      wedding finery, vowing
         our lives to you
   and leaving the words
            lying shattered
      on the floor at the
               reception.

you groan

         but we cannot
                  hear
   over the noisy
              rebellion
      wringing our
           hearts.

(c) 2012 Thom M. Shuman