34

We built a cross.

Two planks of wood and some nails

The work of billions to get it upright

The work of a lifetime to take it down

Only no one ever can

We hung there all our hopes and cares

Our dreams of valor and sacrifice

We hung there all that we could not make right

And we turned and walked away

We came back later to strip it down

Thought the break would make our burden light

Found it had grown beyond all we could bear

It was covered in vines wrapped with thorns

So we took a knife to remove them

Tried to smooth the rough edges away

And make it a palatable task to be faced

And we found that we could not

So we placed rocks in careful patterns

To hide our disgrace in a tomb

To cover our failures with stone

We could not admit we were wrong

But three days of guilt was too much

We came back to uncover our shame

Only to find that just stone remained.