City in the Air

Dawn comes at noon Day lasts an hour Between the tall buildings, The glass of the towers. Dusk creeps away From the light of the sun To hide in dark corners Where the sun never runs. Dusk clings like the filth Of a mid-city drive To the corners, the tunnels - Like holes in a hive - Of the city, so great – Well, it once was Before greed ruined it With the hum and the buzz Of busy bees working, Never to stop Save if their blood leaves them Every last drop – Stops flowing, pumping, pulsing, In this city without care, Allowing birds, once caged inside them To fly freely through the air – To a place where, when you visit, You won’t ever have to leave, If the King who reigns there Will grant you a reprieve. “Reprieve?” You ask. “What have I done? Of all the crimes I could commit, I haven’t done a one!” It doesn’t take a crime, you see, To bar you from the holy halls Of the loving King of Kings Nor His city, grand and tall. We’re human, dear - It’s what we do. Of course we sin! (Both me and you.) “Then why,” you plaintively protest, “Give me hope for such a rest? Tell me not of birds and halls, Nor of cities, grand and tall! I was raised in dirt and grime, (Far from grandeur, pure and free,) Infested by the filth of crime - My loathsome life inside this city.” I look at you. You blankly stare - Your eyes of walking death just glare, And thus do I begin to share Of the city in the air: “My dear”, I say, “We’re men, ‘tis true, But there is yet hope For me and for you.” Our hope of going there someday lies in a man from long ago who lived and died for all to see to sever death’s immortal bow – The one that ties our lives to him - The evil one who dwells below - Where fires torment and demons jeer The souls of those who missed the road That this man built, upon his grave, When up he rose in three days’ time, Defeating the one who damned us all, Avenging the fruit-inspired crime Committed by a man and wife, The first to work and to conceive Thus did we inherit life, A price we pay until we leave. This price, however, we need not bear, For the Lord, our Jesus, Took all of our care Upon His shoulders, upon His cross To prevent us from the greatest loss We’d ever know, for eternity. In short, he died for you and me To pay the price for our inherent sin At the city’s white gates, to allow us in So that the day never ends and the dusk never comes As we relive the dawn in the light of the Son, Forever and ever, on and on In the city in the air.