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Rant 7

Michael Row The Boat Ashore

NO NO I can't go back to that
God forsaken hell I can't I can't
Naked screaming abandoned
sobbing in the middle of the road
about to find an answer to a dream

They had hurried on ahead
across the river
leaving him behind
as darkness fell

He felt inclined to stay behind and play
on the rocks by the river
but he was afraid to be left alone
in the gathering dark

He heard them calling
voices out of the dark night
calling from the farther shore

"Cross the river, little Luther, cross the river"

They kept calling
likes the voices of angels

and as he crossed the river
upstream this time
fighting against the current every step

he realized at mid-stream
what it would mean
for him to cross back

to go on living
in that god-forsaken hell

the howling and gnashing of teeth
the endless boredom
life stuck in a rut
nothing new
the same old sins
the petty thefts
the laziness/cowardliness
the lust....

To wander in darkness
in a tangle of thorns forever

to play games where you can't even lose right

to live only with the hope and the fear
of the river

He realized what it would mean
for him to cross back

and gave up

beaten at last

and slid gratefully
into the river's last cold embrace

"And he said unto me, It is done.
I am the Alpha and the Omega
the beginning and the end.
I will give unto him that is athirst
of the fountain of the water of life freely.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things --
And I will be his God,
And he shall be my son."

-- Revelations 21, 6-7
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Second Thoughts - David Handy - 1/17/06