Beyond the Pale, There Be Dragons

Savior

You cut the strings wrapped round our hands

And taught us a new dance, light in our steps

You chased away the marionette masters

‘Til they cowered in dark corners, gnashing their teeth

But we were afraid we would fall from our pretty painted shelves

So we bound our hair round our wrists, lifted our slackened arms

And stood still

You called down a cedar branch to pull us from quicksand

Renewing our minds so our feet remembered the firm feel of earth

You burned the marauders’ shovels and their watery solutions

So they were left with nothing to dig their next deception

But we were uncertain of the solid foundation under our walk

So we used our past to make our own liquid grave, eased ourselves in

And slowly sank

You sang over us as we crouched in our fetid darkness

Lighting us up with the truth of our purity, our righteousness

You cast out the bitter voice of the deadly harbingers

‘Til they clawed at their throats and choked on their breath

But we recoiled from this new sun shining through us

So we ran to the comfort of cold shadows, closed our eyes

And went blind

You thwarted every foe with song and branch and dance

You scattered our enemies to the outer edges of existence

You wept at our brokenness and bound our ugly wounds

You spoke us into life and loved us into freedom

You swam us through waters and flew us over skies

You won every battle teaching us the heartbeat of peace

And still we fought you

When will we open our eyes and hear your voice

Climb from the mire to be washed by your embrace

Unfurl our long freed wings and fly swiftly to you

When will we stop being the reason we can’t stand

When will we see that you have done it all

And it is all ours for the taking, if only, if only

We would.