canticle 120

you listen to me, Lord,

even when my words

echo my broken heart;

help me to turn a deaf ear

to those whose tongues

drip with derision and whose

lives are built on lies.

for you will take their hollow words

and fill them with grace;

you will pierce their pride-swollen

souls and deflate them with your love.

[remind me that i am but a pilgrim

wandering through despair’s land,

spending but a short time in

anger’s air bnb!]

i spend so much time among those

who think justice is nothing but a joke;

i try to be a voice for non-violence,

but every time i open my mouth

they try to make me eat my words.

© 2019 Thom M. Shuman