SKIN

i

We have shed our skin
The old and fearsome
Hardness that was on us

Not knowing what
We will become

The outer layer
That will grow to cover
The bleeding rawness

In which we now
Exist

Salted by stranger
And those of our own
Household alike

Despoiled
Despised

ii

The heart is torn
Apart from west to east
Eden to eternity

I am listening to God
In Genesis and now

God and man
Parent and the child
Who will not go

But must be sent
For good reasons

The love that dares
To say no

iii

I hold the fledgling
Lamb against my breast
Feel its trembling

Heart beating
Upon my palm
Caressing its frailty

And every pain
Desire and stifled hope

The love that dared not
Show its face or
Speak its name

That shouts aloud its need
To be fulfilled
Demands its right

All other voices
Silenced

iv

There is One only
Who can hold all these
And heal

And cause us all
To come to that tender
Repentance

Which Mercy only
Can achieve