Eyes of Hope

I saw a man bound in chains,

his sentence: to be killed.

He'd been captured, called a renegade,

blamed for the crimes of his friends

and alone in being captured,

for he would not deal death

to one of his fellow men.

They said his heart was faint--

a coward, no less, was he

and with ugly words they paint

him yellow as can be.

Yet he did not yell out like a coward,

their taunts he did not heed,

and he went along with them

to his death silent, oh so silently.

I did not know how this could be,

Til he raised his eyes

and with them spoke to me...

T'was his eyes that jolted me...

Those eyes of deep determination,

colored with love and tenderness,

filled with sorrow and with joy,

with firm resolve and gentleness.

Those eyes which danced with abandon

the structured waltz of wild rhythm,

a harmony of fire and humility,

a perfectly choreographed ballet

of passion and serenity.

Those eyes which said to me:

"I am in body shackled,

but my soul could never be.

For all I know and all I do

comes from a deep wellspring

of hope and love within me--

and these cannot be shackled,

and so my soul is free."

T'was braver, I truly now believe,

to suffer for the sake of love,

to go to death and never see

the victory he dearly dreamt of--

I saw within those eyes of hope

he was convinced in mind and soul

that it would be won some day,

that the reign of violence then would fall,

and that the sacrifice he made for love,

would triumph for the sake of all.