until (Mark 9:2-9)

until 

we see the faces 

of those tossed into
the world's garbage piles
dazzling bright with 

hope and wholeness;

until
we respect the prophets
we have been yearning for
in the hip-hopped, doo-ragged
teenagers strutting 

through the malls;

until 

we hear God's sweet
songs of peace and reconciliation 

in the mother tongues
of all we turn
a deaf ear to;

until 

we catch a glimpse 

of you (out of the corner 

of our shut-tight eyes) 

coming down off 

the shelf where we store you, 

to enter our frayed lives;

maybe 

we should have nothing to say . . .
      
until.

(c) Thom M. Shuman