Oh, To Be as Bad as Paul

 Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" He asked, "Who are you, Lord?" The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. 

 - Acts 9:1-8

You waited for your Damascus blinding flash

and all you got was tourist cameras and smartphones

capturing a wisp of history at the roadside marker

You waited to get knocked off your electric horse

and all you got was a circling carnival pony ride

when you were five and all was wonder and wow

You waited for your own scaly-eyed vision

of glory and all you got was a fall back to earth

and your highs were humbled like the poor’s dreams

You waited in the dark on the ground in dirt and dung

humility sucking you down deep like Tarzan’s quicksand

and then in giving up you were called by name and released