RSTh.
(from the anthology Imagined Greetings)

And they came to him
with their questions, insisting 
that he resolve the matter
in their wounds. He told 
them of the musings of
the heart's silence, of
a vision he had of
a bird singing in the
serenity of a nation
at peace with itself. 

But strident
voices called in language
that hurt the dignity of
his vision. Again they came 
ready now for a confrontation 
he could not refuse. He
told them of a nation
that would believe in itself,
of a few that sought to
atone for the indifference
of the rest. 

They erected a floodlit 
cross then, and the crows 
gathered and croaked in the 
gloom about him.