Lazarus

dark
lonely
flat
despairing
and then suddenly
a seed within me
begins to grow.

i turn.
the warmth of the light
beckons me.
the seed is hope.
i feel it rising within.
its beauty permeates my hardened crust.

possibility and light
compassion and grace
lure me forward.

i stand
bound and vulnerable
as the community
loosens my graveclothes.

i enter the joy of easter
again
and again
and reach to share it with others.