Oppressed by fear and gloom,
With graves and corpses round me,
Before a stone-sealed tomb.
Then hands that had no substance seized
And rolled away the stone And I heard a rattling and I watched
As bone joined up with bone.
Oh, the
toe-bone connected to the foot-bone
Walked many a dusty road,
And the foot-bone connected to the anklebone
Bore all the body's load.
Then the anklebone's connected to the shinbone,
With scuffs and scars laid bare,
And the shinbone connected to the knee-bone
Knelt through long nights in prayer.
And the knee-bone's connected to the thighbone,
Where once the children hung,
And the thighbone connected to the hipbone
The tempter headlong flung.
And the hipbone's connected to the backbone,
Which felt the scourge's smart,
And the backbone's connected to the breastbone,
Where a spear-thrust pierced the heart.
And the breastbone's connected to the collarbone,
Which bore the bondsman's ring;
Where the collarbone's connected to the shoulder-bone
The cross weighed down our King.
And the shoulder-bone's connected to the neck-bone,
Which bowed beneath our shame,
And the neck-bone's connected to the jawbone
Which spoke the Holy Name.
And the jawbone's connected to the cheekbone,
Bruised with a blow in scorn,
And the cheekbone's connected to the skull-bone,
Which bore the crown of thorn.
And the finger-bones connected to the wrist-bone
Gape where the nails went through,
And the wrist-bones connected to the arm-bones
Encircle me and you.
But
the flesh and blood that clothe these bones
Both yours and mine must be,
And the muscles that must make them move
Are powered by you and me.
But the flesh is cold and flaccid still,
The sinews limp and lax;
The armies of the living God
Stretch lifeless on their backs.
Come from the four winds Breath of God,
In flame and tempest fall;
Kindle our corpses till the life
Of Jesus fills us all.
C.F.C. 18.05.1997.
