Remember the sufferings of Christ, the storms that were weathered… the crown that came from those sufferings which gave new radiance to the faith… All saints give testimony to the truth that without real effort, no one ever wins the crown.
Thomas Becket
(a blooming dogwood / Julie Cook / 2014)
Dogwoods blooming turn skyward,
tinged by the rust of nails.
A thousand tiny crowns lifting to the Heavens
While the echoes of sorrow linger in the wind
Three hours, three days, three cackles of the cock
The lamb is lead to slaughter
A noose tightens as a sponge offers up bitter gall
Life and death begin a precarious slow dance
As every soul hangs in the balance between loss and hope
Arms extend upward bearing fingers stiff with pain as a head falls forward
Blood and water flow into one when the spear pierces the innocent
Assent and decent turn upside down
Limbs now frozen in place while a fierce battle rages
The tomb is sealed as day becomes night
Only mystery remains of the terrible war.
Blinding light reflects terror in bloodshot eyes
Fear lingers in the face of the defeated
As the earth shifts, a heel crushes the head of the snake
Chains fall away along with the discarded shroud
When a single pierced hand finally lifts a golden crown
cookiecrumbstoliveby 
Julie, this is so beautiful and full of passion. Your words took me directly to the scene and pierced my heart deeply. Blessings to you.
Oh my gosh. This is stunning!!! Amazing!!! You never cease to amaze me. I’m going to reblog this but before I do my English teacher self feels compelled to let you know that in the last line I believe you meant the word to be pierced instead of pieced. Am I right? Hugs and love, Natalie 🙂
oh how I need my english teacher friends!!
why of course I did—just like when I mean “from” and type “form” or “surely and type surly” or “women” when I type “woman”. . .my poor freaking brain!!
I’m just thankful you can decipher what I mean—and of course auto correct is always working against me.
I’ve corrected it, but it may not show up in your reader as corrected. When I update a “correct” I often wonder if anyone sees that it’s been corrected—as I might edit something 5 times when rereading it—-yes, between the computer, my brain and wordpress—I’m pretty much screwed !!! 🙂
Merci!!!!
Happy Friday!!
I see the correction here and so I’ll reblog now. Your post is just so good that I didn’t want to do it until you had a chance to correct it. I make similar errors all the time and thankfully others have pointed it out to me too. I usually edit my stuff a bunch of times too and some have already read it by then, but I still feel better about it when it’s the way I want it. Auto correct didn’t catch it because technically the word was spelled correctly; it just wasn’t the word you meant it to be. Too bad it can’t read our minds and know that, huh?! De rien!!! Happy Friday to you too, Peaches. XOXO
I am humbled that you wanted to reblog it—I may not be able to spell, but my words mean well!
Happy Friday Natalie—and a big hug–
cookie
Wow, missy, I knew I get a lot of likes on this poem of yours and rightfully so. I’m gonna say it again. You need to starting sending stuff like this off to some publishers! I’m the one who is humbled by your talent, Miss Peaches! Big hugs to you too, N 🙂
PS. I forgot to tell you that one of my fellow bloggers also posted it on her Twitter page. I hope you get some more followers on your blog from this activity. Love, N
Reblogged this on Sacred Touches.
A stunning portrayal of the unscrolling of our Deliverer’s deliverance gifted to all who receive His free gift of salvation.
Thank you for such a kind reflection