Lenten Voices: A Good Friday sort of poem

By Sharon Cumberland

I was inspired to write this poem two Lents ago when we chanted the “Kyrie Pantokrator” at St. Paul’s. I was so taken with the phrase “I bend the knee of my heart” that I went home and developed another set of phrases that were similar, and this is the poem that resulted. It seems like a Good Friday sort of poem to me.

KYRIE PANTOKRATOR

The world was not for me, but for my brothers,
the horses, the science kits, the classrooms,
the rough training for the world, which was not
for me, but for my husbands, the work, the money,
the camaraderie over drinks and waitresses, which
was not for me but for my fathers, the wives, the tidy
homes and waiting children, the warm bed,
which was not for me.
           I beat the chest of my soul.

The clear path was not for me but for the scions,
the boys of promise and grace, their football fields,
the locker room and all its promises, which was not
for me but for the scholars, their tutors, the books
and allowances, the mighty potential, which
was not for me but for the junior partners,
their swaddles of opportunity, the slap on the back,
which was not for me.
           I bite the tongue of my mind.

The audience was not for me but for the speakers,
their podiums and printing presses, the bull horns which
were not for me but for the soldiers, their flags and taxes,
the guns and petroleum, their certainty of righteousness
which was not for me but for the kings, the popes, the presidents,
their parades and treasure, their chest of ribbons,
which was not for me.
           I brandish the fist of my bowels.

The Church was not for me but for the Adams,
the ones who look like You in their secret bodies,
like the Father and the suffering Son in his ribs
and rags, which were not for me but for the saints,
their faith and miracles. Only the martyrs,
their persecutions, their resistance, the hopes
of forgiveness for their jealousy, their cowardice,
their despair, Pantokrator, are for me.
           I bend the knee of my heart.




Sharon Cumberland is a member of St. Paul's and an Associate Professor of English at Seattle University.