His eyes

After Matthew 21: 1-11

Why I noticed this

I’m not sure, but

amid the shouts

and songs and praises

and homage of thousands

lining the roads, I saw

his eyes, aware that

shouts and songs and

praises would soon

turn to condemnation

and demands for death.

He knew what was coming,

he knew the people

lining the road, he knew

their hearts, and he 

understood that his death

was the only payment

sufficient for the people.

Photograph by Quinten de Graaf via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Entry

After Matthew 21: 1-11

He’d been here before,

as a child, as a man,

but never like this,

the crowds, the singing,

the cloaks on the road, 

the branches of leaves

waving in the air, even

the surprise of seeing

the king arrive on a colt,

this was the moment,

the time of deliverance,

the time foretold and

expected and desired

and even demanded,

but this was the crowd

who expected earth

and received heaven,

and in three days they

will turn in anger and 

fury, the deliverance

aborted, and hosanna 

became the call

to crucify.

Photograph by Avel Chuklanov via Unsplash. Used with permission.