'To the Lord I Inquire'
"Our Father, who art in heaven,"
In opulence, you reign, yet your children suffer.
With subjects singing praises to your name,
While the son you bore is ravaged by predators,
And the daughter you never raised is devoured by vultures.
Seven billion souls cry out in anguish,
"Hallowed be thy name?" Yet your kingdom is one of pain.
"Thy kingdom come," but for seven billion souls, it's gnashing of teeth,
Eight billion years of chaos, stars burning out, planets colliding, nations falling.
The sun, earth, and life formed without design,
We witnessed the moon's birth, seas awakening, and limbs learning to breathe and strife.
Was this your kingdom coming?
"Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
Predators stalk, and vultures prey, day and night.
Survival is for the strongest, and the weak are consumed.
Born with infirmities, the earth swallows the vulnerable.
Your will is the unending sorrow and strife
"Give us this day our daily bread."
Yet a million children hunger, and a million breathe their last tonight.
Fields of corn wither, and rivers run crimson.
Father, who art in heaven, have your granaries run dry?
"And forgive us our sins."
You create light and darkness, yet sins are mine alone.
Forgiveness is yours to give, but where is your mercy?
"As we forgive those who sin against us."
"Lead us not into temptation," yet you made us vulnerable.
The world you gave us revolves around wanting.
Each dawn brings temptation,
and each sunset is the fall of men in seduction.
Deliver us from evil, but are you willing, or are you able?
I doubt your omnipotence, and fear your malevolence.
If you are able and willing, then whence comes evil?
Lord, I inquire in sincerity, a broken vessel I am. Amen.
Copyright © Joshua Munyaradzi Mimana | Year Posted 2025
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