Contributed by Brett Ahern
This poem plays off the different applications of the term “victim” in sacrifice, the Passover and our culture:
The Victim
Barely alive,
Bitter, bruised, battered, neglected,
Hurting beyond endurance,
Pain tortuously carves the shrieking, shriveling, shattered heart.
Worse than neglected, hated.
Attacked, turns back to icy stares.
Pretending not to care, isolated.
Loosing warmth, loneliness the only friend.
Eyes fade, shoulders slouch, head low,
Body reflects heart, the unloved desert.
Pain cry moans for an eternity,
Truth - enslaved humanity.
Nothing within could withstand such an attack.
Satan gloats. Victory gained. Egypt revisited.
Proud people despise love -
Refusing to give what they crave to earn.
The price too high to pay -
Abandon the empty life,
Participate in life eternally.
Another heart dies, sacrificed to vanity;
Egyptian tombs multiply.
Human history: anemic heart, cries, dies, bitterness thrives, love despised, a new slave master comes alive.
Victims multiply as the creation cries,
“God, WHY?”
He sends rain.
Slowly, meticulously, abundantly.
Mountains move, pits fill, paths straighten.
Way prepared, another born.
Bruised, battered, neglected, hurt beyond endurance,
Worse than neglected, hated.
But heart thrives,
Declaring, “God is alive!”
Attackers faced, radiates God's supply.
Life mirrors heart, the loved garden,
Sings liberties' joys.
Spirit moves,
Lawful man travels the land,
Truth works, reveals God's plan.
Awe builds, people consider,
Truth's Jubilee.
Satan rages, all coming undone! Israel established in Him.
Finding an empty heart, Satan schemes,
Innocent victim dies; vanity survives.
But this heart thrived to the last,
Refusing death,
Its God's Son,
God's love inside.
Victim resurrects, true heart multiples.
Egypt's tombs emptying,
God's love comes inside.
The call goes far and wide,
To shattered, bitter, dead hearts everywhere,
“It's resurrection time. Let God live here!”
Satan works; people bruise, batter, neglect, hate,
But God inside makes heart thrive.
The crucified declare, “God is alive!”
Truth flows inside out.
Offer heart, the perfect sacrifice.
Love's presence multiplies,
Living life eternally thrives.
Check out "Help" by Brett Ahern:
www.makeasceneak.com/midmarch-2018/2018/3/15/help