He did it for me

shoved down the narrow street in stark humiliation 

while every prod -of hand or whip- stings like fire and knives

on the back that no longer looks human, torn to ribbons and

forced to bear up the cross of shame, too heavy for words

since the weight is not of the wood alone- it's the world's too

stretched out on the planks, the ropes cutting in raw and deep

the strokes ring out, the screams ring out, the soldiers ring around

the foot of the crosses to divide the robes and watch as

people scream out and the body is racked with pain of two kinds

the sky begins to darken, the hours pass, the pain is surreal

and then it's time: the words are barely hear from the mouth

too disfigured to recognize  as the cry of agony pierces the air

the cry of the forsaken, the abandoned, the cursed

dies away as the sky falls black and the final words fall

as the spirit is yielded up and the work is finished

the last drops of crimson fall to the earth while the body droops

and the red stains seem to whisper from the parched dirt below

soaking in the love that grew where the blood fell

while the earth shakes and trembles and the dead are revived

and the last barrier is ripped away, torn from top to bottom

the mangled body is taken down, wrapped in linen strips

soaked with tears and spices, the very scent of hopelessness

carried away and laid in the rocky crevice of the earth

and sealed with a stone of finality's weight

but something changes in the morn, as the light overcomes and

with the dawn arrives the joy of the morning while the

mourning of night fades away into shock and hope

when, amid the tears, she hears the voice and looks up to see

the face of love looking back, the scars and marks erased 

by hope and the miracle of the beginning of the rest of time

tears flow out of the eyes that had seen death and given up

and the eyes that crushed death and rose up victorious

but they are tears of joy, and don't sting at all while 

bare feet pound on the dirt as they run to tell the miracle of life

when the scars and wounds are visible again, doubt dissolves

and faith is born to just one of many to come, but the scars

that were bore out of pure love, the only thing strong enough

to break the self inflicted bond of death and seperation

and while countless numbers will see the scars and believe

the biggest mystery is yet to be said, and that is the fact that

He did it for me

and consummatum est 

no place for fear

via

it is reaching out

it wraps around our hearts

its dark, cold fingers

searching, grasping

r e a c h i n g

for the inside

for that precious space

where there's only room

for one thing

it wants to inhabit

the deepest parts

but that's not all

when it comes

it comes to kill

to twist and break

to snuff out the light

to  d e s t r o y 

but there is yet hope
because

we are also reaching,
reaching out
we reach for the light
we reach for the truth
we are searching, grasping,
r e a c h i n g 
for the truth
which overcomes
and overwhelmes
and drives out the lies
that want to take over
that precious space
sacred for one thing
but no, we will fight back
the death and the dark
are slipping away
in  d e f e a t 

because
there is no place for worldly fear
in a soul redeemed

++++

there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. // 1 John 4:18

dry soul / living water

photo mine

i'm dry

i'm shriveled and cracked

my heart is drooping

from the weight of life

and this desert heat

is weighing down

on  e v e r y t h i n g

but especially my joy

when the sand billows up

whipping all around

driving in the cracks

of my already girtty

stale and burning heart

it's all too easy

to succumb to the desert  

i'm dry

i'm dry- and thirsty

i just want water

but to find it

i have to know 

just how to get it

i have to want it

enough to get it

i have to search and look

and drive in deep

and only then can

it satisfy and fulfill

when i've taken it up

it's now mine

but yet

if i didn't want it

so desperately 

i wouldn't be seaching

so it's really this way:

the water calls to me

come, drink

you're dry

and i realize it

i want it

so i search for it

and finally, i find it

i didn't know what

i really needed

or even that i was dry

i was just in need

but it called 

and only then

was i fulfilled

i'm satisfied

with living Water

i'm satisfied

and i'll never be thirsty

 since i'll never be dry again

i'm satisfied 

but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. // John 4:14

 and He said to me, “it is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. to the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. // Revelation 21:6

when the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. // Isaiah 41:17-18