[K:NWTS 20/3 (Dec 2005) 11-14]
Bruised
hobbled
along dark streets
mind bandaged
he fled the light
and left no shadow!
Each blow
took its toll
cast out
ex communicato
only the form of Cain
with no city built
and none in view.
Their Christ
in their midst
they claim for him
two or three
they say
standing on their book
"We have a quorum."
They offered sop
he partakes
he speaks
"It's all so clear now
they've made
their own upper room."
Packed
packaged
prefabricated
tables chairs
come in boxes
the splinterless cross shines
contrived communion
inflatable fellowship
all the brand names
visible.
Wine
with no bite
or too great
the label read
THE VEIN OF THE GODS
the magic bread
walks on the table
if not on the sea.
Questions
taunts
insults
heaping wounds
they called their lord
knives at their wrists.
Revealing their formula
demanding contrition
they beckon their god
but every step forward
he receded two more
a Narnian figure
a dream
maybe a ghost
but holy to be sure.
His voice an echo
a chambered choir
an unknown tongue
Aramaic?
Hebrew?
no
this Christ speaks Plato.
"I don't understand"
the dark man confessed
and rushed for his book
they caught him mid-air
slashed at his wrists
while one swept
a knee to his side.
Convulsed
writhing
strength gone
a recently shorn Samson
blinded
forced to their feast.
In the darkness
he feared
despair too great
outnumbered
and too late to rearrange
there was only time to die . . .
But place my hands
at the weakness in these walls.
5/29/82
This poem was dedicated to Professor Norman Shepherd. While Charlie indicated it is not about him, it does portray what the poet described as "the severity of the struggle" that replays itself down through the history of redemption (Cain, Judas, Catholicism, Elijah, Plato). We are reminded by the Samson figure that even the heroes of the past may be shorn of their fidelity to the truth. As Milton wrote, let us trust that Samson shall "quit himself like Samson" and truth will arise, as it were, via resurrection from the rubble of error. The resurrection of our Lord is certainly the key to that justification—a life, a death, an empty tomb, an eternal session.