The sun reflected from the cross on the wall

It was just an afternoon drink, that’s all

Joan thought, to ease the burden of life,

The burden of being a mother, being a wife.

The reflected cross on bottle reminded her

Of her husband John and his often voiced fear

For her soul, her health, her denying the Lord he held so dear

She smiled with love for him and the child sleeping near.

The time was close when he would return

And again try to teach what she was afraid to learn

Sighing, hearing the car door shut, she hid away the bottle

And stood watching, her hand on her baby, sleeping so still…

Blink…and the head coming through the door

Was no more

And the baby, held with love so close,

Was only a blanket designed with rose…

Downtown, in an alleyway

The man, long down on his luck knelt to pray

As in the distance voices grew close

Derisive, hurting, cutting his pride until he rose.

Two officers, one laughing at the bum in prayer,

Approached, the silent man trying to quiet his partner.

“What a joke!” the other responded “How sad” the other thought,

As the man clutched his torn coat about him, the last thing he had bought.

Whispering in his partner Jake’s ear “Shut up” Joe reached out with a gentle hand,

Too late to beat the jab of the nightstick, bruising where it had land.

Joe moved between Jake and the man, the cross on the chain around his neck

Reflecting in Jake’s eyes as he swung his club at the derelict…

Blink… and the club hit air

Where the target was no more,

And his partner, Joe, his cross shining in his eyes

No longer held him… he was alone with his surprise.

The motel light, half dead, gave a ghostly glow

As she closed the door, glad to see him go…

Backing to the bed she falls to sit, sobbing, lost

From the dresser drawer pulls out a book, left at no cost.

Desperation cleared the tears from her eyes,

The pain of shame, mirror reflecting the person she despised,

Made her focus and search the little book holding the word of the wise,

Knowing she could no longer live this life and survive…

Then she saw it, and through tears of joy,

She found the way and the light in a baby boy,

Speeding through His miracles, death and return,

She found her salvation as police lights lit the torn curtains…

Blink…as the door slammed open

With officers ready to punish her for her sin,

They stood staring into an empty room,

With an open book that swept her sins, saving her from doom.

Blink, the Shepherd gathers in

His flock from a world on fire,

Leaving only those lost to desire,

Or simply afraid to have Him remove their sin.