Reflection of the other son in the story of the Prodigal one...

In this poem by Rita Simmonds, she seems to have calmed any bitterness or resentment on the part of the brother. During this season of Lent this is a wonderful reflection on our need always to return home to the Father and give thanks for His will to forgive again... and again!

The Killed Calf

I had heard the rumors,
your fall from grace:
How you'd tossed our father's fortune
to the dogs,
... and now
disgraced and starving
you're making your way home.
I am the good son.
I fattened the calf
in your absence.
And now
to welcome you
our father says
it must be slain.
The little cow,
so stuffed with grain,
teeters on its legs.
For mercy's sake
it must be slain.
I killed the fattened calf for you,
though it tried to get away.
Its eyes rolled back inside its head.
It seized and cried
so wracked with pain.
(Who will know what price was paid?)
I am the good son.
At our father's word
I killed the calf
that could barely stand,
for my brother lives.
In every welcoming there is a death.
In every home-coming,
a hidden sacrifice.
In every sacrifice,
the father's will
to forgive
and live again.

-Rita A. Simmonds