A Passiontide Sonnet

She lays her palms before the feet of Christ, with Balaam’s kin
“How blessed is the One who comes in Yahweh’s holy truth!” …
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, I’ve longed to gather you
Like baby chicks beneath their mother’s safe and loving wings!” …
A widow tore her house apart to find the missing coin
A shepherd left his flock behind to find the screaming lamb
The Father sprinted to the son who lived among the damned
And pleaded with his eldest heir to enter and rejoice
The Savior sat among the sheep and offered bread and wine
His body broken for her sins, His blood spent for her life
They nailed Him to the cursed Tree, the Shepherd crucified
The Light of Heaven winking out, forsaken, judged, and tried
In darkness lay His broken frame, alone within the tomb
His rotting carcass stretched inside the cold of Heaven’s Womb