Wane the Dark and Wax the Day

Far off from me, why run away?
Why seek the non existent day?
But of course, you hear and fear the sounds
That make their voices heard in the towns.

Thunder and lightening, mighty forces
That shatter the ground and frighten horses,
That adds to the damage and woe within
As we here ponder, death, our enemy sin!

Yet I wonder at you who ponder to long,
You and the rest of the many manned throng.
I cannot understand the lengthy time
You place upon Christ's fare death and rhyme.

At that you turn, and I see the pearls
That fall all around your cheeks like murals
Painted freshly in the cold of May
Awaiting the Spring and the warmth of day.

Do you not have a heart to have rent apart
While the King of Kings doth his descent start
Into the depths of Hell where we belong?
Into death by which he saved the throng?

You see death as an enemy of God?
For sure, but the enemy now doth plod
After the feet of the savior, in tow;
For it has lost by a great force of show!

Weakened by grief, overcome by your tears
You have failed to realize the end of your fears
Has come into your presence and put down
The enemy who has stolen life's fare crown.

Un-minted and raw is the sight you see
For which I cannot lay a blame on thee.
Since vision lacks a word for such pain
I'll keep my peace and say no refrain...

But, a second perspective is all you need
By which the image with which you bleed
May be repaired by ink newly printed,
Wherein you'll find the truth unsifted.

The answer to your problem is in a book
By which you may take a second look
At whatever it is that is plaguing you
And see it, as it is, anew.

So take a look, then remember well
How you saw a man entering hell.
Your problem is not as great as it seems
Since he went to rectify all has beens.

By the back entrance he stormed the gate,
As if to say I am here, I'm not late!
And while it may seem a great sorrow
You'll have reason to sing tomorrow.

For the words of which I speak do retain,
Do ring a bell most clear, and I'd fain
Say that you'll glean much more out of them
Than crying the night away in this glen.

Still drops of gold do come faster still
And veils of flesh do hide them till
The sound of a stream begins to fade
While the moon keeps up its cold parade.

My words cannot comfort you yet in pain,
For night is still over us, and our gain
Is still afar off as it seems you realize;
But I hope you will heal, as the clock fly's.

And looking about I cannot mistake
Silence that sifts, shifts, and doth take
The sorrow in the hearts of mankind
As victory, and on my heart it doth grind.

Now comes a moment for I who know all,
A temptation made by the tempting thrall
That fails to voice his faith and hope
And falls to darkness at the end of a rope.

Do I know the truth that rises anew,
Or do I in sin continue to stew?
Have I over these forty days done well,
The mist sets over me, and I cannot tell!

Then a gnawing and cold sets its hold
Over my bones, and it doth make bold
To suggest and coax out of me all my doubts,
Before my eyes it waves them about.

Cold and chill do wax inside like a knife,
And I see now how you fell to such strife.
I see anew what I thought was good news...
And suddenly it plunges me in blues.


My knees groan and crack under the weight
That sets me to the ground with such hate
That I wonder if I shall escape this rage
That defies my hope, sets it in a cage.

For it seems that the enemy, though defeated,
Still seeks to overcome self conceited
By means of reminding them of the truth,
That by ourselves we remain from God aloof!

And so it appears the end for me and you,
The darkness sets in, and what was once true
And newly minted in my heart now takes flight
As it experiences the cold of winter's bite.

Yet as the cold whets its rusty blade
I hear a song from beside me thats played
In a rather upbeat way that shakes the night
And puts the cold inside of me in plight.

And I realize that the seed took hold,
And by the word you are now made bold
So that when I fell you were there to remind me
That God's love is deep, as deep as the sea.

Now the thaw begins in my heart, and I look;
For in the dark I did lose hope and mistook
Hope for fear by a pricey exchange.
I see you standing, looking down the range.

A single pearl upon your cheek now dries
As light overcomes what darkness denies.
I stand to join you, and hand in hand
We look out over the changing land.

The tree's were barren, but now come to life,
They endured the cold and the thorny knife
That winter sought to plunge in their hearts,
And now from them springs forth their arts.

The clouds are painted and tinted with red,
Yet after that comes gold light instead.
Such a sight restores my inner vision
So as to see by this sin's remission.

And I look over and see in you
The good news made evident and true.
How strange, I thought, as you look on,
The change in you that comes with the dawn.

No longer far off, no longer running.
No more are you forever shunning
A happy word or the good news I give;
For you saw first what I sought to live...

Now you who do read this poem listen well,
Lest you miss the point of what I here do tell.
The damage is done, yet the price is paid.
Evil is broken, and the corner stone laid
Upon the path for us to walk on through
Has made it possible to overcome what is due.

The good that comes from such a woeful day
Soon trumps the darkness that prolongs its stay.

                             Wane the Dark and Wax the Day, (c) Luke Bennette, March 2013