I Have Been the One

He said to him,
‘My son, you are here with me always;
everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice,
because your brother was dead and has come to life again;
he was lost and has been found.'"
—Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

I have been he demanding
my share of all you have,
entreating—no, commanding;
you have been he who gave.
Give me what I'll inherit:
I take the money 'n' run
No, love would never dare it,
but I have been the one.

And I have been the angered,
outraged on your behalf
that for the proud and thankless
you killed the fatted calf.
How can you be so blind as
to ignore what I have done?
How can you not despise him?
Yes, I have been the one.

But I have been forgiven 
again and yet again.
You, Father, are forgiving 
of all that I have been.
You are the one who sought me
in every place I'd run.
From death itself you brought me
always to be your son.

Return of the Prodigal Son By Rembrandt - Hermitage Torrent (.torrent with info-hash), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7490475