When telling of the dreadful night she danced her shame,
he did not (out of common kindness) write her name.
But when she proved her faithfulness that ghastly day
beside the cross, he wrote her name, then---Salome.
Then, at that bright, besplendored Pascha dawn,
despite the worldly fear that hope was gone,
she came again and found new faith to claim.
Starward
[jlc]
Author's Notes/Comments:
This is an original hypothesis: that the Salome mentioned at being present at the Cross, and then, on Easter Morning, at the empty tomb, was, in fact, the stepdaughter of Herod Antipas, the girl who had danced for the head of John the Baptist. In his play, Salome, Oscar Wilde has John the Baptist urging Salome to seek out the forgiveness of Christ; and I believe that is exactly what she did, but Wilde missed the opportunity to assert it as a finished event.
Some will say that Salome is the name of Zebedee's wife, the mother of James and John. But this is not proven in Scripture. The four Gospels describe the people present at the Crucifixion, and Zebedee's wife is among them; but cannot be proven to be named Salome.
