i must admit that,
while not bodily,
i know what it is like
to be cast out
by people i thought
cared for me:
ridiculed by a parent,
rejected by a lover,
downsized by an employer,
gossiped about by a friend.

wandering
pain's wilderness,
feeding on my bitterness,
alone
forsaken
forgotten

until you
bent over to hear
the breaking of my spirit
and my tears
striking the rock garden
planted in my soul

and you
wiped away my anguish
with the Spirit's waters,
lifting me up
holding me tight
in your own
broken heart.

Amen.

(c)2005 Thom M. Shuman