Go Ye into All the World

by Lori Anne Brown

Yesterday

My professor immensely shocked me

By detrimentally comparing

My personal Zion

To a snug salt mine

Where all are already seasoned

And, consequently, tend to feel comfortable

Just sitting idle

(Like after a Thanksgiving dinner)

Thinking, “All is well.”

While my face turned crimson with anger,

He continued by comparing it to

A cozy candle shop

Where all already shine bright

And, therefore, become increasingly content

Just staying inside,

Not realizing that beyond lies a

Light-thirsting darkness.

I pridefully retorted,

“But kind brother,

History has proven that there

Is great strength in numbers!

Haven’t you heard the saying,

‘United we stand; divided we fall’?”

“Yes,” he replied,

“But remember this my young sister;

Too much salt kills once productive soil,

And too much light blinds once receptive eyes.

“But sprinkle that same salt throughout the world

And it preserves the rotting meat,

And where deathly darkness dwells

One small light—even a child’s—

Can lead wandering lambs to everlasting life.”