The faithful body
A mere capsule
Emptying and forgetting
The contents of life
From ashes to ashes
Dust to dust
Refusing to believe
There’s a God we trust
Until we recover our senses
Shake off Death’s dust
And be restored to former glory
Let this not be the end of our story
Betrayal
An imminent cloud of smoke
Rising from a fire on a hill:
Distant enough to arouse suspicion
Close enough to make ill-will its mission
And yet we are foolish
Enough to listen
As the embers crackle and die
Not perceiving
That very same fire
Still burning in our eyes
As we turn to others
To give them the murderous kiss
We have received
The black shadow of Death
Marks a stain as it leaves
Not once. Not twice,
Nor even thrice.
Betrayal is imminent,
An ordinary part of life
Where men turn their crosses
Upside down;
No longer a symbol of love
But a symbol of hate
“INRI, what became of your
Righteous crown?”
“Hidden, hidden away
Behind sorry veils
By those that believed
Their transgressions
Had brought them beyond the pale”
Cried He.
But even now
The bitter taste of betrayal
Like a soured wine
Fulfilled a prophecy
That would stand the test of time.
Vanity
A fragile bird
Floats on dreamlessly
And undisturbed
It has forgotten
The Word
The prophets foretold
That God’s love
Would be bought and sold
In pieces of silver
The ripped curtain
Folds
Unravelled and stripped
Apart at the seams
See the wounds that bleed
For our broken dreams
In a world where we are
But scattered seeds
At the foot of the empty cross
Here to grow abundantly
In its victory
Or wither guilt-ridden
In loss…
For so long I have learned to dwell in darkness,
It’s like I never even knew the light existed
I disguised myself in its depths,
Preventing myself to grow
But now I know there is a light
That eclipses all darkness
It is the only way, the only hope
For this broken world
I long to bathe in its brilliance
And to never shrink back to those shadows
That first comfort and then flee.
It was never meant to be.
The answer to this life is love
I should have always listened to the voice of
Wisdom from above.
Catherine Lucy Rowland 