The insiders grab pitons and crampons,
some spiritual version of gear,
and start to climb,
but the boys back at base camp
see only a flash of pyrotechnics,
faintly hear a man with no sense of rhythm
playing a tambourine –
is he even related to Miriam?
and a baritone mumbling away at
swing low sweet chariot,
but the voice their hearts
are aching for …
the wind just blows away,
while they greet
an endless rumpled multitude of needers
“your healing is important to us,
please stay in the line…”
and then there’s the boy
with the pushy Dad, and, triage or no,
trying with all their hearts,
and, yes, with all their prayers,
they still can do nothing.
But then Jesus is back in the valley.
and Jude and Thad, Tom, Matt, Nate, Andy,
and the other saints of the left-out,
are suddenly pretty sure
they have just witnessed a brighter shine,
and heard a parent’s tears and love
more tender than anything
that could happen on a mountain.
