I
Here lies the dust, dry soil, longing for rain,
Blowing dust that makes the mouth grow dry
Now touches the barren heart with that longing pain
For green vistas, so soft, to rest the eye.
This, the dust of our days misspent, and lost
Trickles like sand through fingers, caught by the wind --
How little we realized at first what the cost
Of making that dust would be, the coin we'd spend
In this turning our lives into deserts of sand,
Longing for hope's water in this barren land.
II
Once upon a time, it is whispered that man
Knew a time of walking along with God,
In the blessed cool of the evening, but then he ran
Into that desert, there heavy-hearted to trod
The wasteland of dust he created by hand --
A drought of separation, that loss of grace,
Parching his spirit like an unwatered land,
A unwanted gift left to all of his race.
From parent to child hear it echoing still,
The keening hot thirst only God's love can fill.
III
God took on the dust of his creation one day
To bring down the waters to break the long drought,
He came born as a child, in the dust and the hay,
Few saw his coming, few sought him out.
One cool of the evening he knelt down to pray,
His sweat fell like blood drops, the start of the rain,
His blood then was given the very next day,
Flood waters from Heaven released in his pain.
In his dying, forgiveness for what once was wrought,
The drought can be ended when his presence is sought.
IV
Here lies the dust, God gives the rain,
Ending the dust that makes the mouth grow dry
He touches the contrite heart to ease the pain
Gives green vistas, so soft, to rest the eye.
This, the dust of our days misspent, and lost
Are healed by his love, given back by the wind --
For those who will listen, he has paid the cost
Through love alone, the coin he chose to spend
In this turning our lives into gardens, not sand,
Bringing hope's water to a once barren land.
BTTT