Thursday 26 January 2012

Two Sets of Prayers to the Same God






The oppressor prays:

“Our Father Who Art In Heaven,
Imbue in me strength and will
As strong as the Jail Cells
To be armoured against
The little vermins nibbling
At my feet;
Give me strength, I beseech thee,
To thunder edicts to be followed
As sheep to the slaughterhouse;
Which rights have they, the Ingrates,
As to doubt the timber of my voice?
Don’t they know after you, I follow?
All I want is more fire in my bones
A certain deathliness to my voice
Let me be the source of terror”

In the same prayer corner,
The Oppressed whispers:

“The Silent One, The Great One,
Though I be at the shadow of the valley of death
To be crushed at the suffocating boots
Of my Earthly Master
Let my earthly whines be unto you
I don’t need explosives
All the pain within me, if I let them,
Can explode me
My mind is like an LPG tanker
A little scratch can detonate my brains
My heart is soiled with injustice—
A dark alley of blind rage against men
I have no prayer skills of a chaplain
So I will tell you of how depraved I am
Like an antelope with an arrow on its back
I have run here, weary and tired and dying
I have no grace to beat my chest
For I have no chest
All I have is a slab of embalmed passions
Nothing excites me anymore
I will not talk of freedom, though you grant it,
I will not pray for power, though you grant it,
I will not pray for revenge, though my heart seethes,
Your depraved servant (O, how ill-equipped am I to request)
Yearns for GRACE to live through
All your servant yearns for is GRACE
The injustices of this world are beyond me
Because I have no mind, resources or skill
To think of the misery I have been subjected to”

Two different prayers to the same God
And God’s mediator, exercising better judgement,
Invites the Oppressor to the altar
“To address the brethren”, he says
The Oppressor has the wits and fluency
Often quoting the Bible,
The Eternal Message of Love
Even for his brethren, the Oppressed,
O, how prayers unite petitions
A common cause to the God of Love.










5 comments:

WildWoman2 said...

WOW. This is so powerful. Tell it, kiddo. This is amazing poetry. The image of the antelope with the arrow on his back carries your message well. Oh this old world. What are we going to do with it, my friend?

WildWoman2 said...

WOW. This is so powerful. Tell it, kiddo. This is amazing poetry. The image of the antelope with the arrow on his back carries your message well. Oh this old world. What are we going to do with it, my friend?

theunknowngnome said...

Each teach.

echoesofthehills said...

It is also my biggest concern, Koko. To see a world where all forms of discrimination will be rebuked and humankind partook of their greatness. They have been great once. They could be great once again.

But as I was watching Charlie Chaplin recently on 'The Greatest Speech Ever' posted on Youtube, he said, "As long as men die, liberty will survive". Now, that is optimistic!

echoesofthehills said...

Sure, TUG. We could learn a lesson from both of them. Thanks for your thoughts.

Post a Comment

Echoes of the Hills is all about you. I would love to hear your echo...

You Might Also Like

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Disqus for Echoes of the Hills