Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I wrote this poem for Christmas. With a one-word change, this is now an Easter poem—and equally relevant today. I wrote this with a friend in mind. She suffers from several difficult mental illnesses and often spends holidays alone.

Font size too small? Here is the text of the poem:

A congenital heart defect makes her too tired

to run, to crawl, to cope,

or even hope for better days.

Will you label her lazy, unmotivated?

Or will you care for her,

helping with children or chores that are too tough?

Framed and falsely accused, he is in prison

where the stench of rot and decay

scald his nose and throat and mind.

Will you, worried about what others may think,

pretend you don’t know him?

Or will you visit, bringing solace and a lawyer?

A malignant tumor squeezes and infiltrates her brain,

causing her to be illogical, impulsive, nonsensical.

In short, crazy.

Will you shun her as you giggle and twitter

behind your hand or 4G phone?

Or will you accept this stranger as she now is,

becoming her advocate and friend?

Pierced a hundred thousand times,

my abused heart holds a defect no ultrasound can detect.

And yet it’s real,

and steals my strength and will.

False and rancid thoughts chain me in a prison

where with tears and screams I struggle to break free

of this leprous metastasis whose mutations

mask the real me from all

but God and those with eyes who choose to see.

Please, I beg you, though I am stranger,

see me.

See me as I am—a beloved, royal daughter of God.

And on this blessed Easter Day

as you remember Jesus,

please remember me.

The picture and scripture verse below were originally given as a card with the picture on one side and the Bible verses from Matthew 25:31–40 on the other.

Artist: Brent Borup
Source: LDS Media Library