Maw and Thaw

Stop and listen to your fears,
They cajole you onward into tears!
Hearken no more to their bitter phrase,
Your eyes they seek to solve with glaze.
Hasten further you should not at all,
Lest in blindness you should stumble and fall!
Up and down, left and right,
We move about, but cannot fight.
Exhausted by the running game
We flee, in flight from the dreaded flame.
Escaping from what we know
To be real and true, more than a show.
Into darkness you run, darkness most deep
That leads to a numb and unblessed sleep!
And though it seems darkness from which your run,
I advice you to holster your anxious gun
That you may better see what you do flee
From is that which is God, eternity.
Crash and burn, our bodies break!
Yet still we flee, as from a stake
In death; for dying we do fear.
We cry for help, as death draws near.
What we lack is seen behind us now,
It seeks to be reunited. And thou
Who dost seek to be removed from it
Will in darkness forevermore sit.
Tugging at our sleeves apace
While we run in darkness, a hidden face
Suggests we stop and rest a bit;
Lest from the cold a coughing fit
Develop in our souls grown cold.
Stop and listen, be brave and bold!
For should we turn and face this threat
I can assure you, I would bet,
That this demon we face, death to self,
Is the assurance of life, and of wealth.
Prosperity lies on the other side.
If we are, (and this is crucial), with Christ allied.
So do not flee from silent halls,
But rather hear, listen! Jesus calls!
Do not run from his voice, his light;
For he restores to the blind their sight.
So if you would give up those things which draw
You onward into the lions open maw
You may find you have the strength to turn
And embrace the fire for which you burn.
And suddenly the worlds aglow,
Time's pace ceases, and wonder...O!
Freed from shackles once thought to be
A comfort in sorrow, I find myself free.
Herald I am, a witness to love
To earth itself from heaven above.

                      Maw and Thaw, (c) Luke Bennette, March 2013