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Return of the Child

by Tim D Livingston

I became an imposter,
an impersonator of someone
I thought I should be,
something I thought God wanted of me:
A morally paranoid, calculated pretender.
One who carries a form of godliness
but denies it’s power.

Fear became my motivator.
What if I should fall
and shatter my image forever?
I had to trade the weight of the law
for the spirit of love.
The Pharisee toppled over.
A shivering child emerged,
grotesque in his deformity
and the violence of rebirth.
I am naked and pure.

For this reason He died for my sins.
I couldn’t do it on my own.
The child found his father.
The Pharisee came home.


online source

07/05/2010

Author's Note: Part 2 of my poem "Kill the Child". Also inspired by the book "Abba's Child" by Brennan Manning. Chapter 1. The Imposter.

Posted on 07/06/2010
Copyright © 2024 Tim D Livingston

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Nichole Fuji on 07/06/10 at 01:47 AM

I painfully love this poem. It's a paper looking glass indeed.

Posted by Therese Elaine on 07/06/10 at 05:37 AM

Mankind is its own religion...and never was there a faith more fraught with the faithless, the hypocritical, the betrayers, the weak...we become our own brass idols, our own false prophets, and there is no Messiah to lead us into the light because he's too busy sleeping it off and we're too busy convincing ourselves that the world owes us a living, but we don't deserve it. Instead of pouring so much of our lives into some nebulous faith, we need to start pouring faith into our lives that have become so nebulous.

Posted by Morgan D Hafele on 07/06/10 at 04:57 PM

coupling the piece with the picture only adds to it!

Posted by Joan Serratelli on 03/07/21 at 07:35 PM

I don't know WHY, but it reminds me of Blood Sweat and Tears- Father is Child To The Man- LOVED THAT ALBUM- GREAT WRITE

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