investment

Their wealth,
such as it was,
shall not be inherited.
Older, weaker and
poorer they grow,
as resources gathered
through the sweat-faced toil
of decades
are exhausted,
spent on care
delivered by caregivers
less than caring.
Only then are they,
spent and exhausted themselves,
allowed to slip into eternity
penniless,
having enriched no one,
preserved nothing,
and saved, perhaps,
not even their own souls.

immobility

Am I so trained by shackles
that even when they fall from me
I remain spread-eagled on the wall,
enamored by lines of shadow
between fibers of rotted rope
and the glint of the Light of Life
on broken chains?
How long will I linger
in this clutter, this rubble,
gazing at ruins, wondering,
"Might I miss some wretched crumb,
be it left behind?"  Oh, far behind!
Cursed pile of rusted
grace-shattered links,
you do not confine me;
my hesitant thoughts alone
accomplish that!
Explode in me, O Spirit, O Joy!
Lift me from this heap
on wings like eagles!
Set me once again
to walking
and leaping
and praising God!