the unexpected

"Then one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.' Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth." Revelation 5:5-6

we want a lion

who will rip out

the evil from all those

who taunt us and 

would harm us, and

you send that Lamb

which is scarred and shattered.

we adopt a worldview

which demeans those we

cannot understand, but know

we must condemn with every breath,

and you send a Listener

who sits by wells chatting

with the forgotten and who 

dares to learn from those

the world views as unworthy.

we secretly (and openly) long

for that bully who will crush

those we know you hate simply

because we dare not love them,

and you send a Heart which

gathers every little child on its lap

and which writes 'you are Beloved'

in the sand at the feet of everyone

we would banish to the outer darkness.

(c) 2023 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman