I watch the evening news and squirm as the
world’s soot settles over me –
the latest dregs of national gossip,
the teeming international inequities,
sin and sordidness
paraded as human rights,
the pollution of greed, violence and horror,
societies’ daily sensations.
I feel assaulted, pulled apart, and
long to brush off
the pain and debris of this
sin-sick world that sifts down
spoiling serenity,
soiling peace and joy.
Yet…
dare I ask You, Lord, to sweep away
or let me shrug off
the grief of this world You bore
on your back?
You watched the evening news and
went to the cross.
© 1991 Susan Lenzkes
