Redemption Near

Did you waste your life
  just making money

Did you eat the bread
  and not the honey

Did you sell your soul
  as your children watched

Was your heart left cold
  in a tinderbox

Were your excuses rich
  and your reasons poor

Did you wake up full
  and still ask for more

Were your blessings shunned
  as you scratched and clawed

Saying no harm done
  “I never broke the law”

Were you teeth all straightened
  and your motives bent

Were your eyes detached
  from what heaven sent

Were your memories lost
  in some dead refrain

As a lonely footnote
  to another’s name

If you had one chance
  to re-right these wrongs

Would you hide in silence
  or break out in song

With your soul imprisoned
  the choice is clear

All joy awaits
 —redemption near

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)