Molten lead

After Luke 4:16-30

His words poured into our ears

like molten lead, heat and agony

and pain slicing our souls,

this one we’ve known since childhood

who’d never given a sign

of disrespect, his words edged

in anger as if we were the ones

at fault, the ones blaspheming,

instead of the disdain pouring

from his mouth, pouring

on our ears, such dishonor

never heard before. And we knew

this traitor in our midst

must die.

Photograph by Chetan Menaria via Unsplash. Used with permission.

How prophets are honored

After Luke 4: 16-30

On the seventh day

or the first, he didn’t rest

but stood among them

and read the scroll he was

given. He read, rolled

the words up, and sat. A silence,

a pause, the waiting, and

then the words as he speaks

and beyond speaking the words,

he scratched their hearts,

scorched their ears, seared

their souls, the fulfillment

becoming a judgment. In dress

rehearsal, they dragged him

to the cliff, but he shook them off

and walked away, unharmed.

The time was not yet.

Photograph by Ben White via Unsplash. Used with permission.