Monday, June 20, 2011

When A Donkey Spoke

by CWK

If it should ever come to pass
that skeptics skewer me over a fire
till hope is blurred and light expired,
and faith falls round like broken glass –
and there I stand with broken shards
to piece together the remnants marred
by a mind half blind, in madness cast.

Well then, my mind’s eye will digress
to a young man weary and distressed
in a small chapel upon a lonely stage
with only a few scribbles possessed
across a scant and indescript page.
He, the poor, preaching to the poorest
looked for his own words but found
they faded in the light of sound
which poured like rain from above
on parched, depleted, and dry ground.

He was taken up and taken over,
and carried aloft upon another’s shoulder.
He spoke briefly, and then another
bellowed in a voice ever bolder,
and all shuddered.

“Seek Him. Seek Him,” he half said,
and then, silent, like one dead
he paused, arrested in his bleetings.
Then, he stood amazed – for there he read:
He is seeking you! He is ever seeking,
seeking, searching, reaching, finding;
the hound of heaven: pursuing with good tidings.

That weary man, chased to chastity;
that weary man, pursued into hell –
until he finally bowed and knelt
before Heaven’s mighty rhapsody.
That weary donkey spoke, but not he.
For there was Another in the room,
and His Words came stunningly alive,
and He the stage assumed,
in the awe of late arrived:
as if ressurected from a tomb. 

So, when cruel doubts upon me fall,
I will rebuke them with a memory --
which even now in the years’ long haul
is as clear as day, and very near to me.
I will declare war on the skeptics of the ages
with a quiet truth that ever rages:

“I saw God. I heard his voice in mine;
but it was not me. It was sweet, sublime,
and powerful as a mighty rolling river.
I drank in the deep ocean of the free giver.
I drank and was satisfied;
I drank, and on grace relied.
I saw the power of God across men’s faces.
I saw the the Word of God run free.
I saw his hand underline words, leave traces,
and fill the earth with wise folly.”

Yes, I have read your learned rantings,
and in dubious moments have recantings.
I spent a dark night in the tower,
half wishing to escape the martyr’s hour.

I've heard your worst; even worse maligns
occurred to me. Your worst and mine
combined have tossed me on the sea.
And yet, this occurs to me:

You Fools! A donkey had his day:
one hour, but celestial and sweet.
He saw angels sing and satan fall
like lightning at his Master’s feet.

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