as we drove home last night
in the Christmas eve stillness
i absently watched the darkness
whirl by, punctuated with light
i somehow thought of you
imagined figure of mindless wont
faceless, nameless now except
for the whispered label
‘betrayer’
and i wondered again
why you did what you did
this is a question of
emotionless fascination
for me to never know
although i suppose
you had your reasons
then i realized, sitting
there at my silent window
that i am just like you
albeit with differences
in details of time and space
but your shapeless face,
it could be mine
and ‘breaker’ my name
consonantly twinned to yours
there are dreams i have
destroyed and walls built
to protect me from my crimes
nothing’s new under
solomon’s sun.
our mother trained us well
betrayer of God, bane of man
breaker of harmony
how could she?
tell me you’ve wondered too
He had every right
to unform them in the wake
of rebellion
dust-man and bone-woman —
He the Lover whose breath
filled their lungs —
betrayed, He could have
broken them back
into the nothing they were
without Him
yet still He loved
He Himself became
dust and bone
man born of woman
allowing the objects
of His affection
to break Him beyond recognition
so He could step into
their yawning, aching hearts
and fill them completely
He who had the right
of retribution gave it up
to gain back His betrayers
we may be our mother’s daughters
knowing good and evil
but on those who walked
in darkness has come dawn
and we are made
our Father’s suns.
— — —
*last two lines crafted with a little help from a friend.
