country poetry & more

Visualization

It’s tough to realize the gruesome
truth of Jesus’ death.
The story has been told so much,
it hardly takes our breath.
But then some modern tyrant
re-institutes the cross
and we recoil in horror
at civilization’s loss.
We can’t relate to Jesus
as a personality.
He’s just a picture with a beard,
no feelings you can see.
But take somebody that you love -
your husband or your son -
and visualize him on that tree
for no sin he has done.
His bare and tortured body
writhes gasping hard for air.
The dried spit mingled with his blood
now streaks his face so fair.
His lacerated back against
the cross of rough-hewn wood,
the pain of piercing by the nails
can scarce be understood.
How could a loving father
whose son knew only bliss
send him below to suffer
such a death as this?
We cannot grasp the wisdom
that says this must be so
nor measure love so rich and pure,
whose depth we’ll never know.

Cora Gail Trent
www.cgtrent.com