Humanity

Humanity, no longer wrapped
But exposed
Removed from the womb
Of personhood  and remembrance

Humanity, no longer housed
But outside
In the cold of eviction
And forgetfulness

Humanity, no longer clothed
But naked
Exposed to the deception
Of all that is in the Idol

The Idol of humanity
Turns and turns
There is a beast
There is a harlot

There is wanton destruction

But there is a Lamb
Slain
But wreathed in victory
King of all Kings
Lord of all Lords
Standing, standing for war

Standing for Man
Standing for Woman
And her seed

Bloodshed inevitable

O sin in the flesh
Is killed only by killing flesh

Sacrifice embedded in humanity's heart
It beats, it beats
To forget
[that sin in the flesh is killed only by killing flesh]


It is finished

Softly, softly, tread softly

Softly softly, tread softly
Lofty ideas range around in the air above
Your head
And within a distant song

Softly softly, tread softly
See the shard ready to pierce
Your ready feet
And heart

Softly softly, tread softly
Flee to the near path
That is only lit from within
Your feet, heart and song

Hope 2018

There comes a word
To break small-stoned silence accumulating in the soul
A whispered word, wisdom-filled
For you

There comes an image
That is not self-filled, ego-driven or face-less
It is faith-filled, faithful and evergreen through the seasons
For you

There comes a sound
Swelling from the depths eternity-covered
Pitch-perfect, shame-lifting with each beat in time
For you

The fire falls

The fire falls and burns behind eyes, within hands

Not long now until the chapter ends and the seal is opened?

And with Inequity unleashed, Justice’s heart will be devoured

O Mercy will weep at such a sight -

Sorrow carrying her young and burying them one by one

In the ancient earth

She will fall silent - no lament or praise to hail this new dawn

The Advent sign was not what we imagined -

Blackness yielding eternity from Time’s beating breast

It took such an age for this coming

Long-awaited, baited-breath, storm-stilled at last
The whirlwind reaped leaving landscapes bereft

Signs of life ripped up and just vanished

O Mercy, Sorrow and Justice

Bowed witnesses, foreheads kissing dust

O Love, to behold beauty born of a woman’s seed

And the perfection of completeness

No incantation accompanied this incarnation

Just silent-night wondering and a heartbeat buried so deep

In eternity bursting into smoke-filled air

With a cry to quench the fiercest of fires

And divide death’s domain in two forever

Sarah Larkin, Advent 2016 and 2017