Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
The time came for the nail to be removed.
As I made my way to the feast
An alarm came from the tower watchman
Night is coming and chariots are in the gates
But I dast not ignore my lord’s summons
The table was broad and set for a host
Some had come to be healed or forgiven
Some because they were poor and hungry
I had been invited to observe and learn
A crowd jostled for position at the table’s head
While my usual place of false humility
At the table’s foot was already eagerly filled
So I looked and found my assigned seat
My lord had prepared a table for me
In the immediate vicinity of my enemy
And then I saw
The table had not been prepared for me
But for my enemy, as an honored guest
He was no longer assailing the city’s gates
But invited by my lord to the table’s head
And then I saw further
The table was not a table, but a door
A narrow door that when opened
Led not downward but to an ascending ladder
So I stood and grasped the handle
A psalm of destruction died on my lips
As I turned to my enemy and said
After you.
Peter reflects on the lessons recorded in Luke 13-14. cf Is. 21 and 22, Ps. 118, and Is. 25:6.
We understand the nature of apocalypse very poorly, methinks.
If you’ve read many of the poems in this series, you know that they mostly reflect what Peter is learning or feeling, and he is often in error.
This piece, however, almost purely reflects something that I have learned from this exercise — one among many things, naturally, but one I think is so important in this troubled time.