BitterSweetLife

I just finished reading Nehemiah, a truly mythic book in the Bible. It's also historically accurate. (Can you beat that?) I came up with this "rag" (as in a rough shred) poem thinking about Nehemiah’s faith-driven persistence.

Nehemiah’s quest to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls and return the hearts of his people to their God was a brilliant success…and a bitter failure. He poured himself into Jerusalem and her people for over a decade. Then, after mere years of absence, he returned to discover worship abandoned, festivals forgotten, lawbreaking embraced.

Again, he called Jerusalem to repentance. Summoned Israel back to freedom and joy, their rich identity as “the chosen.” But how long would it last? The question must have surfaced in his mind.

Nonetheless, Nehemiah rebuilt. He didn't question his reward because he knew God was keeping track, not his people. So Nehemiah didn’t lean back on the crutch of a doubtful future, a stubborn race, and bow out. He built, and that was enough. He saw glory through rock dust. If that’s not bittersweet, what is?

The Poem

The strength of the builders is failing,
There are no stories told at all.
Hearts misplaced in piles of rubble,
I wonder who will build the wall.

The men are praying to their weapons,
There is no singing anymore.
Hope is locked inside the temple,
Faith scorched like the city doors.

The square is filled with propaganda,
Flyers and letters by the ton,
Every morning a new mantra.
But we’ll have truth when work is done.

©2004 Ariel Vanderhorst