8.  The Only One Staring Back

By all means, go seek

the sound

of all things holy

but have a heart

that fingers and pulls

at its own righteousness,

removing layer by layer

the terrain of privilege,

and bad religion,

and following the crowd,

and laughing a little

too hard at the wrong

jokes just to fit in,

and the time you

considered a world

without you in it

so that you can see

the woman in front

of you, tears in her

eyes, pleading

with Jesus, especially

when you're

the only one

staring back.