6/17/15

Mother Emanuel stood in the doorway wearing a smile on her face.
and to the stranger, she offered up refuge, not thinking he looked out of place,
Accepting, he entered bearing a message from someone he thought was a friend,
to give to the mother and all of her children, then wait for the war to begin.

He walked through her halls for what seemed like a lifetime, beside him she guided the way,
The light through the window created a rainbow over the place where they'd prayed,
At the foot of a stairway, the children were gathered, sharing the name and the word,
with welcoming hearts they made room for the stranger, not knowing the demons that stirred.


An Elder was sharing a verse from the book about sewing the seeds in good earth,
She said some may be tossed into infertile places, denying a spiritual birth,
The stranger looked up with a puzzled expression, as if questioning why he had come,
He gave pause to think, with a sigh and a blink, it was clear that the deed would be done.

The stranger stood up, Mother still close beside him, he turned to the children & spoke,
In a voice filled with rage, he stepped up on the stage as the hatred inside him awoke,
He said, you are to blame for the plight of my people, for you all wear the skin of the night,
With death in his hand, he held tight to the plan, the powder keg it would ignite.


Mother Emanuel looked down at her children, who silently lay on the floor,
And to a boy with a gun whom she'd seen as a son,
as he turned and walked out the door,
Her tears fell like rain on the river of red as she cried to the father and son,
She said, Lord please forgive him, this awful transgression, he does not know what he has done.

As the house lights all faded, the crowd contemplated a twist though they spoke not a sound
Perhaps it's not as it seems, just a bad dream
revealed as the curtain goes down,
but there was no amending, no surprise ending, no hero to make a last stand,
It's a hard fact to face that there are people who hate,
the things that they don't understand.



The spotlight, it swelled on the beauty beheld of the Angels that filled the last scene,
With light in their eyes, there was no disguise for the joy in the songs they did sing.
They sang: Glory, glory, hallelujah!
I laid my burden down,
They sang for the stranger, they sang for the children,
While the mother echoed the sound.

As a new day was dawned, the outsiders looked on,
amazed that they saw not a sign,
no retribution, no restitution,
no shouts vowing, vengeance be mine,
They just lowered their heads for a simple prayer said,
Dear Father, we ask for thy grace,
And Mother Emanuel stood in the doorway, wearing a smile on her face.