Walls to Preserve. Walls to Destroy.
There should be a wall
Which protects unborn life
From surgical vacuum and killing pill
Which shields a young boy or girl
from the fist of a father
or the lust of an uncle.
These broken walls bring shame on us
A human community called to be humane
There should be a wall
Which encourages a man to express his passion in holy ways
Not man with neighbor’s wife
Not man with other man
But man with his own wife
Walls such as these are Architecturally assigned
To preserve humanity through self-restraint
To protect society from self-destruction
Even animals know to respect such walls.
But bad walls have been wrongly built
Walls that weaken who we are
as those given life to share together
these walls should be destroyed
When a black man feels hatred for a white man
Or the white feels disdain for the black,
When native American longs to steal back what was stolen from him
Land, dignity, opportunity, culture
When those who own more call lazy those who own less
When skin of darker hue senses hubris in lighter tone
When the house of privilege moves further away
from the house without a yard
Bad walls are wrongly built
And weaken who we are
Walls are built on two sides
And two sides must bring them down.
When victim burns with hate
And victor gloats with pride
Only grace from Him can beat the wall
Only the cross offers a pathway through
He took down divisive walls
Brought together one new man
Walls are rebuilt on two sides
Both sides must bring them down again.
-Robert E Rasmussen, 2013
From SAFE IN HIS SANCTUARY, by Robert Rasmussen (Multnomah 1999), p161.