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Stood Afar Off, Beholding
[after Luke 23:49]
Death's moment came. He sagged upon the cross:
beaten to mutilation; his limbs wrenched;
all senses ceased; that comforting voice quenched.
But ended, too, his agony and pain.
Time spent with Him, once, was a joyous gain.
But now, having witnessed His suffering,
all happiness counts only as sad loss.
Having come here with Him from Galilee,
we mourn---clinging to our own company.
A brash, young scholar, who had watched nearby
(and spoke his pride to be a Pharisee)
shouted, "Deceivers cannot fool Death's sting.
"Nor can another either: flesh must die."
We knew that---as he did; ---as hopelessly.
Starward
