Descending, on ropes

After Mark 2:1-12 

On my bedding they lower me

into the room of noise and

smoke and the small of bodies

densely packed together.

Too many people inside,

too many crowding the door

for a chance to see or touch

or be touched by the healer.

My friends, the faithful four,

make a hole in the roof,

startling those below as

debris falls, and lower me

on ropes, a descent into

noise and smoke and

smell. The noise abates,

suddenly, as they point 

and watch me descend.

My eyes search the room

for him, our eyes meet, 

and he says, first, that

my sins are forgiven. He

looks around the room,

reading the hearts, and 

says, second, rise, take 

my bedding, and go home.

I stand. I take my bed.

I walk.

 

Photograph by Alejandro Luengo via Unsplash. Used with permission.

The crowd goes crazy (silently)

After Mark 2:1-12

Through the roof he comes

on ropes, almost a theatrical

scene; that’s bad enough

(no sense of decorum

In honor of those present).

But then the healer says

the man’s sins are forgiven,

and theater becomes

melodrama.

His sins are forgiven?

Who does he think he is,

God? The impertinence!

the outrage! That’s 

an offense meriting stoning!

(But he did heal that leper

so it might be best to huff

and puff in silence.)

 

The healer looks around,

and he has the knack

of looking not only at

but also through the heart,

and he knows exactly

what we’re thinking.

To hammer home his point,

he doubles down, and after

pronouncing forgiveness

he tells the man to rise,

take his bed, and go home.

And the man does.

Sometimes it best to huff

and puff in silence.

 

Photograph by Sushil Nash via Unsplash. Used with permission.

What does the healer say

After Mark 2:1-12 

Confronted by the faith

of the men helping a friend,

men so determined they

punch a hole in the roof,

what does the healer say?

 

He sees the man known

as a paralytic descend

into the room, dangling

in the ropes, and what

he sees first, amidst all

the talk and mutterings

of the crowd inside

is the faith of the men

maneuvering the ropes.

What does the healer say?

What does the healer do?

 

Is it “You’re healed”? 

Does he touch or extend

a hand. Lifting the paralytic

up? Instead, and first, 

the healer speaks.

The healer says

the man’s sins 

are forgiven.

Because it was,

because it is

the most important.

 

Photograph by Aaron Blanco Tejedor via Unsplash. Used with permission.

The word is out

After Mark 2:1-12 

The word is out:

the man can heal,

a touch, a look,

a word can dispel

a demon, a disease,

even the most feared

of all, a disease like 

leprosy. And he’s here,

right now, in a home,

right down the street.

 

The crush is on,

the house is so packed

no one can move

or barely breathe.

Four friends bring

their paralyzed fifth,

unable to move

through the dense crowd,

without a word, they

climb to the roof,

carrying their burden.

Smashing a hole (debris

falling on the crowd 

below), they lower 

the fifth with ropes,

because they believe.

 

Photograph by Jake Weirick via Unsplash. Used with permission