September 14th

“He raises the poor from the dust,
   and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes,
   with the princes of his people.” Psalm 113:7-8

covered with the detritus of life,
palms callused from unskilled labor,
we ignore you, but when
we fall into the cracks of life,
you are the one who pulls us out,
when we wander down alleys
where no one knows us,
you come calling our names.
not out of any pity, but pure delight,
taking us out to dinner,
not to sit in the corner reserved
for the forgotten, but
at the table where the party
has already started,
where our scarred lives
are considered to be holy.
and there, where
the poor become honored,
the empty become family,
the broken become beloved
we sit, gobsmacked,
that we are in their midst.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman