Prayer of the Cross

Hold! Restrain your cruel hand;
Spare me a life of ignominy,
An eternity of shame
Carrying that holy frame.

Forgive, my Lord, forgive,
My helpless pain I submit,
With your loving touch
This wood enrich.

Lambs of your fold kneel
In worship, in reverence,
Blessed with your blood, I live
In faithful hearts a rememberance.

December 6, 1992

My Nation! My Nation!
I grieve for thee:
For a trust betrayed,
For a people befooled.
When brick by brick, our Babri fell,
Did Rama smile?
His hearth he beheld o’er run,
A pilgrimage defiled!

Can we forget? Can we forgive?
The lives snuffed,
Burning candles put out.
The orphans’ cries, the mothers’ tears,
Yet haunt our ears.
Shame, O shame!
Anguish fills a race,
Anger, the hearts they rape.