Duty (Do Not Look Away)

Where the world has forgotten,
we must remember: each day is for kneeling,
each day, for piercing a thousand veils
for the beloved, for letting your heart
break and rest yet again.

Duty can be ugly. A man dies on a cross,
and we call it good. Do not look away.

Mirrors light pathways to every place
you would not see. Do not look away,

no, you are as ugly as the last of them,
and just as beautiful all the same.
It does not matter if they see you.
See them. Do not look away.

It can be beauty that guides you,
the inner knowing of what is good, what is right,

but it is only ever the reflected ones to love,
whoever they are, however they are, see them.
Only they can act their wounded majesty,
their imperfect selves refracting a perfect Self
and inviting true intimacy with the world.

You are nothing before your Lord,
don't you forget that, that half-lion half-lover
dear dark warrior man—confess to him.

You are not alone. We are all that man,
before a chariot, choosing what we serve.