January 1st : New Year’s Day

Warning

Be careful, Lord, this year.
We may not let you in.
We fear
the color of your skin,
your poverty,
and do not wholly trust
your speech, whose ambiguity can irritate
those who want things
black or white, not gray.
Peace and the sword must
not cohabitate
any more than may
the wolf and lamb,
the hawk and dove
relate in love.
So state
your platform well before
you come knocking
at our door.
The scar
of sin sits deep
in church and state,
and inconsolable Rachels weep lost sons, sons lost in war, in drugs, in alcohol and crime, in misplaced dreams.
0 bid all time
stand still
among our petty human schemes. And if you dare and will,
step quietly again
into our hearts. Their pain
will be familiar.
Now you will know
how far
and where to go.