Solidarity with the Strong Ones: a poem for Lent

Solidarity with the Strong Ones

They tried to break you,

Powerful,

Beautiful,
Whole,
You.

They tried to break you,
squeeze you and

crush you,

make you believe their bold lie,

believe you were unseen,

broken and

weightless.

 

But the heaviness of your hope,

which flickered on regardless,

deep within you –
even when it seemed dead.

THAT weight held you,

together,

down,

and
up.

 

You, the heavy one,

one of millions,

you marched on,

stood on,

carried on

regardless:

Your flinty, beautiful face,

your strong brow

and gorgeous crooked smile.

 

You, the crown of us all,

Revealing our best:

Resilient, resourceful and, somehow, rooted.

Your voice, a song

of Beauty,

Freedom,

Truth

rings loudly through the land

and

in our hearts, 

carrying Old Truths,

calling us

upward, and higher, and

through our smallness,

until we stand together

with you,

warmed as we 

work and we rest,

as we flourish

together.