Dana Butler
A Long Way Off
(a poem-prayer, to be found where the father is)

A father's heart embraces
his son
still mid-run,
still a long way off.
A father's heart appeals to
the righteous one,
always right at home,
yet a long way off.
Elder son, night & day
compared to younger—
years worked,
waited (bided?), while
younger brother spent,
risked, squandered.
The conscientious and compliant,
now
complaining, thankless,
self-excluding,
missing the whole
daggum
party
(which he would have
found to be just as much
for his own
blasted
fun).
And the most
remarkable grace:
so wildly impulsive,
yet
desperately sincere—
this is
the son who finally
attains the lavishness of
his father's heart.
Oh God,
let me not be found in
self-righteous sulking,
worshiping my own
“vast” differences
from my younger sibling
(so many ways to
be a long way off).
May I be found in
celebratory proximity
to the just-arrived-home,
who still smells of animal
stall, bits of pig slop
still clinging to
their clothing. Unafraid
to get close,
unbothered when
a bit of pig slop
rubs off
on me.