“Love, why did you have to go away,
leave us here all alone
to survive these crazy, crazy days?” (Michael Franti)
Love will come back to you
like a son returning home,
like a ship coming in to harbor;
And you will return to Love
(although I suspect it will feel
like you have traversed the greater distance).
For in Love’s absence
you found Persistence and Hope
and your heart, though scarred, grew stronger.
While Love was away,
Chaos and Guardedness took its place
but you met yourself again —
with the hard intimacy of
flesh meeting gravel
when the runner takes a fall.
I know your cries from the ground
seemed to go unheard,
and the loneliness of dusting yourself off
was deeply bitter,
But Grace found you there
(even when you could not be comforted)
because it was not Love’s job to make life easy;
it was Grace’s task to see you through.
Even so,
Love has not abandoned you.
Throw off your burdens and your mourning:
open your eyes to the raw beauty of this wilderness,
let a chuckle rise up,
dance and sing with confidence
that Love will be your partner again
and your exile will end with a new journey.