Markings 116 - Veronica's Song

Veronica’s Song

a cycle of poems for Easter after The Stations of the Cross

6. Station the Sixth

Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

She makes it just in time

simply

by a minute

pushes to the front

his face already pressed

between pages of her past

with hers now pressed at him

beneath

the latent weight of wood

he pauses

at an arm's length

from her thin grip on sanity

bearing the burden

of a world gone mad

upon his back

his face

a peeling mask of bleeding

salt and tears

she moves to him

lifting the loose folds

of her robe

gathers them

in swathes and bandages

about his broken head

and he prints out his agony

into her hands

upon her soft dress cloth

shocks them with the stab

of thorns and nails

and fire

as always as before

brings her back

from the edge of darkness

as always as before

leaves her with nothing

but the knowledge of himself.

Jeff Guess

St. Mary Magdalene's

Moore Street, Adelaide, South Australia. 5000

©Jeff Guess 2018