A Desolate City

My friends, my shepherds, like lions, knew not to retreat, Nor now will they stray like sheep. I shall walk upon thy hills, through thy valleys, along thy horizons, I shall pursue them till they return to roar in pride and keep. Yet thou art an abandoned city, In thy streets no passerby, a wasteland in endless desolation wrought; No bleating of a lamb, No growling of a lion’s whelp— Here they have all been lost. The prophets played for me like pipes, For in the days to come my city shall return, and her ruins shall be built anew; A new heart and a new spirit My fellow men shall all be given as are due. And when thou shalt come, and when thou shalt return, Then will I do as the words of the covenant, And shall believe with all my heart That in the city there is judgment.