I need the baptism,
The one faith, the one
God, the one mediator,
The one rainmaker, of
Pain and sorrow and
A new tomorrow—I
Sketch myself up on the
Shelf, and put myself in
His hands—I trust my fallen
Desires, I trust in what won’t
Satisfy—I ache and I thirst–
I feel alone when all are around,
When the crowd knows me,
When red eye fail me,
When the world thinks they
Know me, I need the baptism,
Called Holy, called true,
Spring break calls to me,
Indulge me flesh, one night
With the world leaves me
On the edge, in the in between,
Secular is the solar lining around
Me, the devil is a beveled edge
Around me—sink me Lord, deep
Down into you, dead to sin
And alive to you—it fades,
It reaps, it goes into the earth—
A new birth, a new berth for
All of us—come soon, bring
The baptism!