The fig tree

After Mark 11:1-14

Hungry, he spies a tree,

a fig tree in full leaf,

suggestive of branches

hanging heavy with fruit.

He searches, but the tree

offers nothing, yields nothing

but leaves, an appearance only,

an invitation without substance,

a mirage, a fraud

and so the curse.

From the cursed fig

to the temple, with its appearance

of wealth and wisdom and worship

but nothing but appearance, a fraud,

a mirage,

and so it joins its brother,

the fig tree.

Photograph by Lynn Greyling via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.