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Calvary hill.
I curse the day i ever entered Jerusalem,
I curse even more ever meeting Gestas.
The night chills seem to burn in to my wounds
and i feel wretched and stretched upon this cross.
The blood around my mouth has congealed
since i stopped biting my lips in pain.
My whole body aches with stiffness
from cramps and the pressure in my chest
is becoming unbearable,
i try to press down with my feet
but exhaustion is taking its toll.
I drift in and out of conciseness
and dream of water and warmth.
The crowds have all gone,
except for one woman
who kneels at the foot of
the cross of this man Jesus.
This man, that fool.
I bemoan the fact this man
even knows his Father
and i curse mine whoever he may be.
I think Gestas is dead,
for he has not hurled abuse
at this Son of God
for a long time now.
I pray to this mans God
that the guards will finally
break my legs and end my torment.
I call to him for help
and i hear this Jesus say,
"today you shall be with me in paradise"
My salty tears run down
my battered cheeks
and fall into forever.
A sign of my human frailty,
a sign of mans inhumanity
high upon this hill.
A Testament indeed.
The brilliance of this poem cannot be underestimated. However, I do have a question regarding the line "this man, that fool." Could you elucidate that for me?
Starward
Very well written, felt all the emotions.
erm.... silence....
Unlike Sharon, I have no need to comment on reliability of texts (insertions into Josephus?---good heavens, who declared her a textual scholar?), or on the veracity of Scripture. You have done a wonderful job in allowing the "bad thief" to speak for himself. This is one of the finest Biblical poems I have read in a long time. I dearly hope that, in future years, no one suggests that someone inserted something into this as well.
Starward
I definitely misread the poem, because you are really writing about the "good thief." I apologize to you for my error. I misread the stanza beginning "I think Gestas is dead"---taking the end of abuse to mean that he, Gestas, was the good thief and stopped the abuse when he called out to Jesus. Wow, I really misread, but on second reading I got the details right, and I still think this is a magnificent poem!
Starward
Very good writing skills, poetic. I hope you don't mind that I think the bible is fictional- including its account of Jesus' life. And other historical accounts of Jesus such as those found in Josephus are forgeries inserted by church leaders looooong after Josephus' death.
This now sounds like a mourning piece to me, sorry I didn't have anything to say the first time around....but I disagree with Sharon lots, though. I definitely believe in the Bible. But this a well written piece all the same