Alternative facts

Aging crusty guy

Hair a little wild

Face a little wrinkled

Body a little sagged

I’ve been there done that

Studied, traveled

Done amazing things

Met amazing people

I’ve been places no sane person goes

and have seen both danger and death

I’ve blessed the marriages of both of my children

And watched helpless

As another father’s child has died

In my arms

A victim of war

You would think I would be rooted

But instead I am twirling in the wind

Buffeted

By liars and thieves

Infant like I am pulled this way and that

Uncertain

Short of hope

Long on anger

ah those clever cunning ones

who rob from the poor and give to the rich

who abandon the elderly

and doom the child to a living hell

ah fake news

alternative facts

ah extremism

of all sorts

left, right, left, right

twirling, lost in the chaos

and seeking still that

still calm place

that will allow me

to heal enough

that I can once again hear the voice of Jesus

and find the ground

and speak the truth

in love