Who Can Hear

Who Can Hear
Advent 2; Matthew 3:1-12
Hear John the Baptist’s words shout from the page:
abuse of privilege stirs sacred rage.
Our wilderness of concrete is as bare
as desert dunes in desiccated air.
Brave voices still cry out: “Prepare the way!”
I see no crowds admitting that they stray
and plunging deep in their desire to change. 
Our prophets now are mocked, their words too strange.
Perhaps pandemic was a winnowing fork,
but kernels scatter under fruitless talk.
We need John’s vision now to recognize
one greater far than us, in humble guise.
“Repent!” he cries. “God’s kingdom has come near!”
Amidst the noise of commerce, who can hear?
	Barbara Messner 12/11/2022