We did not expect a Road to Jericho as we grasped the iron rod,
Yet you have named us Latter-day Lamanites.
And in this othering, this “fairness for all,” you have made us a “those people.”
No!
We are your people!
We are you! We are born into the covenant and adopted children into the house of the Lord!
Yet still we experience something more as we pass the great and spacious building.
Policy and words, homophobic and transphobic,
Rain down upon us like arrows
As we humbly press forward.
We continue to struggle
To stand
In holy places while shielding
Our bodies with outstretched arms.
We nurture the tender flame of testimony
While the air of fellowship is drawn out around us
We are made servants, to tend to the comfort and sensibilities of the privileged
And told to hide in plain sight.
It is unclear if we are given or driven to the margins of faith
But this much is clear:
We are your children and we asked for bread.
When you gave us a stone, we didn’t expect it would be cast at us.
We will always be with you, see us!
We continually wash upon your shores as waves,
Born to our families to bless you
When you did not realize you were in need of blessing.
And the blessing of waves shapes shorelines
And tides bring life
To the everlasting lands
Of the kingdom of God.
Out of Obscurity 
I do trust all of the ideas you’ve introduced on your post.
They are very convincing and will certainly work. Nonetheless,
the posts are very brief for beginners. Could you please extend them a bit from subsequent time?
Thanks for the post.
Hi Travis, thanks for the comment. This is a free verse poem. Because it is poetry, I pack a lot of imagery and symbolism into ideas as I paint emotion and observation. Much of what is in a poem is what you take from it as you sit with it.