I and She

The mercy tree looks like mangoes,
sweet, dangling fruit
of life and death hang in the branches,
asking,
what today will be?
Exhaustion and defeat gaze
longing,
wondering at space
and wood
and desperation.
Splintering at the roots and thinking,
Respite could be in the limbs.

Another fruit, a stranger kind
is swaying in the breeze.
I see myself,
void of breath,
leaving all behind.
I cry and cry and crumble
sobbing
reeling from my shame.
A gentle shepherd hovers near
and whispers,
says my name.

A thousand joys resound
and
For the first time I AM known.
All is seen and welcomed,
Loved,
A death wish is no more.

I hearken to another woman
wondering at her time.
A lonely walk among the tombs
reveals a truth sublime.

The grave has keys now,
locked no more,
A mercy so divine.
A humble lion raged to hell,
Declared:
“You are mine.”