an invitation

my friend Amalia and i were talking the other day, and she said, 'we are the black pit alumni' i replied, 'there is a poem there!' we each wrote a version. this is mine, hers can be seen at her blog, Amalia on purpose, which is linked in my 'blogs i follow' sidebar.

we are the black pit alumni
we, who have laid long
in the depths of despair

we are the black pit alumni
our members, world wide
and diverse

we are the black pit alumni,
standing arm and arm,
we've weathered the fire storm

we've crawled up from the depths
of that dark pit

that dark pit,
where we cried out in anguish,
felt the sting and bite of
the cold winds of separation

that dark pit,
into which we fell unwittingly
tumbled down, we lay broken,
and felt our aloneness

on that park bench in darkness where we wept,
in that bottle of liquid amnesia where we tried to forget,
from our rooms of seclusion where dark fears were met

that fire of separation, how it burned!
this, our initiation, our price of
admission

we cried out from our black pits
and heard that gentle Voice,
felt the tender ministrations
of our hearts

His succoring grace and mercy
sheltered and enfolded us with such
close attention and compassion
we were moved to look up, to gaze out

and found the hands
of earthly angels stretched out to us,
those servants of Glory,

those alumni from the black pit,
dressed in robes of humility and service,
such finely stitched garments,
each a different hue and shade
yet all of a cloth, the same


we invite you today.
take this hand outstretched,
take this robe custom made,
and join us

--bruised orange