u/GFR_213

I had a dream, that was not so much a dream

The sun was burning me, taunting

And the clouds were dancing above

As I stole the fruit of an orchard

And it's owner was dead by my hand

I had a dream of fires and firefights

Across the grass and the flowers

Ash begotten ash, dust in my lungs

The cows watching in boredom

The raw humanity!

I had a dream of checkpoints and guards

The city-state reborn in fire

The clouds beckoning forth

Judgement and revenge

My Lord weeps for us

I had a dream of water and mud

Of a flood carrying me far far away

My house, nothing, my city, nothing

A river bore me to the north

Where I saved my mother

I had a dream of death

Life upon life upon life

The shambling masses

Heads empty and crazed

We are lost in the desert

I had a dream, that was not so much a dream

I lay under stars remembering

Tastes and smells and sounds

I could no longer recall

And life went on

They say Solomon knew the language of heaven’s birds

And soared to the lord who is in thirds

I beheld the heavens, the water, and the earth

I saw the suffering in mankind’s hearth

I gave you everything you cast aside

I clothed and healed and heard only sighs

I could not see the signs, you said

I wanted you to know me as a friend

Because I was your mother

And father and lover and son and daughter

I was everything in my nothingness

I wanted poverty, I craved the wilderness

Everywhere I walked I felt sick

I was in sickness all my life

I rejected property and took no wife

Because it was sick, all illness and false cures

And for this you called me a scourge

You visited curses on my name and friends

You called me a sorcerer, a leader of liars

I did not ask for this, I was not born begging

For the hatred of the world

All I wanted was to see the birds

Whom I was promised would guide me

But I could not fly, no matter what I tried

I could not follow them, so I made myself wings

Of my blood and sinew I made them

And milk from my mouth poured from me and into your souls

And you gorged yourselves on it, everyone did

But you grew to love that milk more than me

So you kept drinking and drinking and you forgot me

You took my name from me

I was a peasant and a beggar, and I was peace

But you craved the milk of my mouth

So like a cow you bound me in your service

And forced yourselves upon me

And everything I was and said vanished

You murdered those who remembered

My real name in the beauty of the world

And my milk turned to blood in your mouth but you kept drinking

Your bloated stomachs churned with my flesh

And you slaughtered and slaved in my name

My name! Why did you do this to my name

Generations of evil in my name

Lord! King! Supreme Slavemaster!

Come drown us in blood!

Deliver fire on my enemies and make me powerful

Those were your prayers to me

You disgusted me and made me disgusting

You butchered my face and body

And placed it in hideous triumph

Over butchered faces and bodies

How many idols did you worship?

How many orphans did you make?

How many vain invocations of me?

How many children did you slaughter?

How much did you steal?

How many lies did you speak?

How much wealth did you covet?

All in my name, which I made clear to all who would listen

All who you ran down and burned

I didn’t ask for this, and you knew it

I wanted to love, and be loved, and heal

I wanted peace and the end of tyranny

I wanted to soar above with the birds

And I wanted that for you too

I tried to speak, but you gagged me

I warned you against kings

And you put a crown on my head

I paved the path with a spade

And you reforged it into a blade

I came back, many times, in many forms

But you did not recognize me

And despite everything you did to me

I am still your mother and father

Lover, son, daughter, and all else

I am still here, but now you are deaf

But I refuse to give in to you

The justice I preached will be delivered

And all your lies will be torn down

Look! I am throwing fire on the world

And I will watch it burn to ash

And from it I will make a new sun

I will heal and rebuild what has fallen

I’m afraid you don’t want me anymore

I miss you, I always missed you

But I miss those you hurt more

And I will make them whole again

I will build up everything you tore down

And I will sit down and bask in the new sun

But if you fear and hate me still, know this

I did not stop when I reached the birds of Heaven

I saw what they could not see, what Solomon could not see

And I know I am from a place you cannot understand

And my origin is beyond your worst fears

I Am That I Am, and I choose to be all the good

And you chose to be all the evil

I miss you, friend, but I will destroy you

And I will bring you the peace I promised

So I send this message to beg you once again

To hear my words again, to remember my real face

To remember the taste of my milk and why I gave it to you

To remember who you are and where you came from

With these words, I remind you of my name

With much love, The Nazarene