Love Beyond Love

Ordination' by Nicolas Poussin, 1630s

They came from various walks of life.

They followed.
There were eight,
nine,
ten,
and then there were twelve.
"Did you hear him?" Asked one bystander.
"Did you listen?" Asked another.
"He speaks of wheat and weeds," said a third.

They move from town to town,
the eight,
nine,
ten,
and twelve.
They draw others to them
always to follow,
as they follow.
"I ate fish," said one who dined.
"There was plenty," said another.
"It might have been a miracle," said a third.

Some rebuke,

those with power to lose.

They criticize the one

who stands as a shepherd

before the eight,

nine,

ten,

and twelve.

The one says He is good.

He says His flesh is bread.

He says He will spill out His wine.

He carries a beam of wood

without followers.

Yesterday there were twelve,

ten,

nine,

eight.

Now there is one,

and His mother.

"I heard he raised up a dead friend," said one with a sword.

"He made claims that worry the religious Jews," said a second.

"He asked that we might be forgiven," said a third.

They come from various walks of life.

They follow.

There were eight,
nine,
ten,
and then there were twelve.

"He has risen from the dead," said one in the dusty street.

"He has prepared a place for us," said a second.

"He has loved beyond love," said a third.

copyright 2023 - Donald P James Jr