ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

Crossing Off Christ

© 2009 Glenny Palmer

What agony suffered upon that rough cross;
was the pain in your flesh uppermost?
I hazard to guess that your anguish of heart
eclipsed all, but the love of your Host.

What delirium must have pervaded your eyes
what despair for those jeering below;
what supreme sublime love did you summon, to sigh
‘Please forgive them Lord, they do not know’?

Did you feel the soft touch of the kiss on your foot
from the faithful who wailed in dismay,
or did ecstasy bathe you in sweet sanctuary
from the hell of that Satan spawned day?

As I speak to you Jesus, millennium on
I am pondering how has it changed;
has your sad sacrifice for your love of mankind
inspired peace within minds so deranged?

Is the Cross not your symbol, your emblem to praise
though alas now defiled, disallowed,
for the ‘Christ’ in our ‘Christmas’ now boasts a new cross
‘Happy Xmas’ a new sin avowed.

And I weep for you Jesus, I weep for my kin
in their futile pursuit of the peace
that you hold in your hand, that they just will not grasp
while they claw in the dark for release.

Could you die again Jesus, would that ease the plight
of your children submerged in their quest
for fulfilment; alas it would seem a vain cause
though I know you would rise to the test.

And whether or not your pure love is revered
by the faiths other brethren enticed
I will honour your Christmas, your sweet sacrifice
never yielding to... crossing off Christ.
...

Thanks Glenny may I use this Please?

Merry Christmas To you and yours.

Dave and Elaine.

Well....depends wot for?....go for it mate. I only ever ask to have authorship acknowledged....let me know how it goes, eh? (I like doing church gigs. But it's dangerous when I'm halfway through a poem & remember there's a, well, suggestive bit in it. I gallop over that & pray....but I usually get 6 Hail Mary's for it.....)

G'day Glenny,

Thanks for having enough conviction to post this beautiful poem. It is good for my soul to see someone who not only believes but has the courage to declare it publicly.

Have you heard of the Blake Prize? it is a competition for written works with a spiritual nature. This poem may do well there.

I'm not sure but I think it is a very old Irish idea that my mum used to talk about - We all have a crown waiting for us in heaven and every act of merit we do on earth puts a diamond in your crown. I bet this poem puts a diamond in yours.

Interesting reminder Glenny that the cute little baby that we love to admire at Christmas was the same person that was scorned and tortured to death .


Zondrae mentions the Blake Prize. I would have a read of the style of entries that make the finals and check the names of the judges for the Blake Poetry Prize before I spent any money on an entry to that contest. No reflection on you Glenny, I think you know what I mean.

Ta