POETRY
Waters
‘Let justice roll down like waters.’
Proclaimed in unexpectant unperturbed voices
Comfortable righteous virtuous honorable
No reason no need to search the hidden depths
Of denial,
Of uncompassion,
Of refusal to see hear understand learn.
Then justice.
Perhaps belatedly,
Or maybe in perfect timing,
Rolls down.
Not an agreeable, amiable ocean wave
To run from in joyful apprehension
To tease our hot toes with its freshening foam.
But a tsunami,
Staggering us with revelation,
Devastating us with truth,
Scouring away complacency and pretense and negation,
Revealing the shame of cleaving to the lies
That comfort us in the guilt of self-satisfaction.
Calling, insisting on recognizing sin.
Calling, insisting on repentance.
Calling, insisting on change.
Justice rolls down.
Not tranquilly or humbly or respectfully,
Not in deference to authority,
But demanding, challenging, persistent.
A wailing, driven lamentation,
A thing of righteous terror
To sweep us into a new restoration,
Or drown us in our denial.
Terri Martin Wilkins is a follower of Jesus Christ, often failing but always relying on grace. She writes from experience, grief, joy, and her responses to the world around her. While she often struggles, she continues to work on trusting God in all things.
Photo credit: “The flying spray of the ocean” by Peter Thoeny, via Flickr.com.
Heart of Flesh Literary Journal 