The stone rolled away

After Luke 24:1-12 

The stone, a barrier

a separation of life

and death, the stone

is rolled away, removing

the separation, the barrier,

revealing the emptiness

within, a slab, some cloths

of linen, an emptiness,

the death of death. The body

is not here, the tomb is empty,

death is revealed as destroyed,

swept into the ash bin, forever

gone, forever defeated, Yet

another parable, a contradiction:

life to be seen and symbolized 

by emptiness, a silent tomb,

death vanquished,

death destroyed.

 

Photograph by Krisjanis Mezulis via Unsplash. Used with permission.

The rock, the stone, the pebble

He searched for the rock, everywhere,

the stabilizer, the foundation, the assured

platform on which to stand and not shake

or shift or waver.

He looked everywhere for the stone,

the talisman he could palm or pocket

or hold to umbrella the rain

and melt the snow.

He looked everywhere for the pebble,

the rounded hardness hidden in the sole

of a shoe or the creviced floor, the pebble

to protect, first, and then empower,

second.

He found them all and he found more

of them, rocks, stones, pebbles

of varying sizes and colors, and they

worked as expected and they didn’t

work as expected because he had looked

in all the wrong places.

Photograph by Petr Kratochvil via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.