Innocent, except

After Acts 26

He makes a defense in the form

of confession, and what compels

is not so much what he says

(which does appear rather insane)

but how he says it, the passion,

the conviction, the disregard

for what we hear, as if what

matters is the speaking, the act

of words, the word. And then he

asks me, tells me, I believe

the prophets, and I rise and

leave, asking myself how this man

sees my heart better than I do. And

we know, Festus and I, this Roman

and this king, that he is innocent,

he could be, should be, freed,

except for his appeal. I stand

on the balcony, see the crowds

below and the ravens above,

perched and waiting.

Painting: Apostle Paul on Trial by Nikolai Bodarevsky (1875). Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.