DEATH AND RESURRECTION

In the Garden

Tears

from his eyes

and from his whole face

from his scalp

and his ears

Tears

from his chest

and his arms

and from the tips of his fingers

He wept

from his whole body

and he bled

And then he was betrayed.

When It Was Finished

His mother's heart

was fully pierced.

When it was finished

Crows fought

for the unfurling ribbon

of his last words.

And when it was finished

Darkness rose

from broken tombs

stars and comets

crossed the sky

Judas lit

a single candle

in the upper room.

When it was finished:

Three soldiers

in camos and balaclavas

snapped their steel wands

and pushed the crowd back

from the high mound

his friends

lowered the cross

closed his eyes

and pulled the nails

a wild dog

slunk up to him

sniffed his matted hair

and stood gazing

at his face.

When it was finished

The rain began

and the rain

washed him

and he was

annointed

and the women

wrapped his body.

And when it was finished

The women

left him

to the tomb

and made

their way

past endless rubble

through checkpoints

and concertina wire

made their way

past trash fires

refugees & crack whores

made their way

into narrow lanes

past grilled and boarded storefronts

into darkened parlors of frightened men

and hungry children.

  

And when it was finished

Hell welcomed Him

and knelt before Him

asking

if he had died

for them

as well.

Judas

Betrayal isn't the greatest sin

It's despair.

God would have forgiven Judas

but he lost all hope

and so became

the only saint

in Hell.

Resurrection Women

There were always women

His mother

first of course

as with us all.

Her cousin

who knew

long before.

His   

friend

from

Magdala.

         

Those who begged

and were rewarded.

Beauty

at

the

well.

The women

who attended

at the cross

and

so

and

of course

and

again

the women

were the first

to see -

As the men were

          frightened & hiding

and the Romans

          drunk & sleep addled -

the

light

shining

from

out

the

tomb

on to them

unto

the day

and

into

the

world.

The women

carried the news

as they have always

carried

the

new.

RW

Seattle, WA

Good Friday 2010 – Holy Thursday 2020

Max Ernst - Crucifixion
NASA - Earth 

Josef Žáček - Resurrection