i can trust grace
for floundering friends
i can say love
and decide that’s enough
to keep them from going under
i can hoist the sails
and go the distance
and run the gamut
and call all hands on deck
and plumb the depths
but in the end
they either swallow too much
or they survive
and who am i
but just another pair
of wandering dark eyes
just another pair
of feeble clumsy hands
just another pair
of slippery bare feet
i can throw all the lifesavers i can throw
they can cling to all they catch
but in the end
it’s God who gives their knuckles grip
it’s God who helps them breathe again