Daniel’s Dénouement

Carried off from familiar paths and ways,

so young and yet so wise,

undefiled,

diviner of dreams, favored of kings, a desperate seeker rewarded with revelation,

and yet—here you are

betrayed,

surrounded by beasts, gaping mouths, sharp tooth and claw.

And would redemption come with blood and tearing flesh—

a brief tearing of this earthly case to be ushered to Presence?

It could have.

It would have, except

in looking up, ready for any and all,

redemption came with the stilling of snarls and the killing of foes—an elevation

of spirit and position.

Ah, if only to be a pure Daniel heart in the midst of

or through—

whatever befalls,

faithful in all things.