I have loved a thousand souls

Each a beloved child of God

Borne witness to deepest scars

Saw with my own eyes healing

All of it grace

I have been left at the altar too

Left holding their heart, their hopes

Forgotten and avoided

Gaslit and moved on from

They came and took

Found shelter under my branches

As I held the weight of eternity

While the Light gently energized and warmed

I have heard the song of God

In the silence and thunder of tears

Absorbed the broken holy into my body

Stood in the gap

Listening with all my might

I cheered on heavens truth

That each was worthy

Loved and never alone

And then I was tossed aside like an empty bottle

The contradiction of holy orders