GOOD FRIDAY

I.                    IN THE GARDEN

(after Mahmoud Darwish)

He saw what was ahead

and he cried.

He cried

from his eyes

and from his whole face

He cried

from his chest

and his arms

and from the tips of his fingers

He cried

from his whole body

and he bled

He bled from his whole body

And then

He was betrayed.

II.                WHEN IT WAS FINISHED

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 the mud

anointed him

and the women

wrapped his body.

And when it was finished

They left him

to the tomb

and made

their way

past endless rubble

through checkpoints

and concertina wire

made their way

past trash fires

and 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.

III.             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.

RW

2010-2016

Crucifixion - Jackson Pollock