by Kelly Pelton

An African American woman met
and married a white man years ago;
in recent times, she wouldn't condemn
the people he thought will surely go

to hell. He thought her compassion misplaced
and went to the internet for validation
but what he found there were facts about blacks
plus facts about women with interpretation

that swayed him to joint the KKK
and tune in to people who seek to restrict
and control the black women, and over and over
he voices repugnant ideas to inflict

a pain in her heart, calmly requesting
she dialogue with him to defend her views,
debating like men do with logic prevailing,
for he cannot put himself into her shoes.

He uses the Bible, statistics, and sound bites
to mock female pastors, to question the vote 
of black women ("they're liberals; they vote for abortion"),
to treat the whole group as his moral scapegoat.

His wife, heartbroken, betrayed, and lonely 
has nevertheless sought the Lord's healing hand
and gotten deliverance from discrimination,
rising above it to take her stand.

She now makes public what he says in private,
bringing to light what her Klansman believes,
praying God opens his eyes to the truth 
of how through one's wounds the satan deceives,

how one's devaluing "the least of these"
is treating Christ Jesus exactly the same,
subordinating our God incarnate
in the "who's in charge" power game.

She prays for her Klansman to hear the small voice
of God who as our scapegoat died,
to own and confess from his heart of hearts
the prejudice that always is denied.