Saturday

Who will roll the stone away
from our hearts?
they are hungry graves
fiery and dark
but inside of each
glows the same light
that lit the belly of the whale
that went before the Israelites
and if we can't move the stone
neither can we snuff that flame
which burns until you come, to break the stones
and rend the veil.

The Harrowing of Hell

Where did your spirit go
after you gave it up?
To that other desert,
at the heart of the earth?
Where each of us waited,
weeping from the heat
for you to overpower the guard
and take his keys.

Death at the Oasis

You had been hungry
but now you eat
the final meal
at the end of history

The desert couldn't kill you
or the devil tempt
but in the garden
you give yourself up
into the hands of men

Judas and the Elders

Judas stands in the street
turning a coin in his hand
for just a moment longer
before he goes in

The Pearl of Great Price

Mary, you perfume his head
you anoint his feet
and wipe them clean with your own hair
not knowing why you weep

and the widow drops her mite
and listens to it ring
for a moment before her heart
reminds her it is hungry

the men spoke in riddles,
arguments, and dreams
but the women understood
you were worth everything

The Temple Cleansed

You knew what was in a man
you could see our hearts
and that within a day
the palm branches would be ground to dust
but still you rode that humble beast
through the gates of your city
and in the temple, broke the cages
of the birds, and set them free.

The Fortieth Day

After forty days, maybe
the desert felt like home
and the city on the hill
seemed strange and foreign
but the Spirit that drove you out
led you back again
along the stony path
between the brambles
back to the road again
that led up to Jerusalem
into the heart of the city
where the soldiers and crowds waited.