A Cry In The Night

(December 27, 1992)

Break me out of this crusty shell
     of human existence.
Free me from this self-imposed prison
     of putrid self-indulgence.
          (For which the correct
               theological terminology is sin.)

Let me die and remember no more
     the paradox of pleasure and pain
          that awakens the death of the soul.
Kill me that I might live
     to experience the pleasures of life
          and to endure the inevitable pains.

Burst the barnacled bubble
     of my wanton flesh;
Replacing this stifling, stagnant vacuum
     of indecency
With the sweet breeze of your Spirit.