Poem for a Snowy Day during Lent

Security is the cry
Oppression is the price
"We have to protect our own!"
Means we have to kill someone.

Like water from a poison stream
It looks so necessary,
Until it makes you sick.
Nightshade, deep and powerful
Deadly.

Defend, interdict, prevent!
Hold on to what you have!
Seek to save your life...
The Cross is folly.

Woody said, "Let's have Christ our President."
But the carpenter isn't running for office.
He doesn't want your crown
Because of the thorns;
And he's already got a better one.

Violence, Power,
Power, Violence,
An endless and tedious refrain

To quote Leonard,
"When they said, 'Repent!'
I wonder what they meant."
Can we really turn away the "way things always have been?"
Can we really turn towards Grace?

Can we forgive before our anger turns to hate?
Can we be better, even if nothing else changes?
Can we give a gift, when we know it will be misused?
Can we really give anything?
Or is it all just a usurious loan?