WordsOut poems by Godfrey Rust  | sequence Words from the Cross 1 of 7 → | home         I  

accomplices

Father forgive them 
for they did not know what I was doing
when I slipped into humanity disguised. 
My light shone in a darkness 
they could not comprehend.

Forgive them 
for they do not know the cost of an immortal’s suicide. 

They tried to keep us 
from this meeting here.
Father forgive them 
for they do not know what we are doing. 

Forgive them all, 
my dear beloved dull accomplices.
Forgive the crowd 
who made the necessary choice of Barabbas.
Forgive Pilate’s wife,
whose conscience nearly ruined everything.
Forgive Judas 
his kiss of death. 

Forgive them 
for they did not know what they were building.
We were the architects 
and these rough beams were cut 
to meet our most exacting standards. 

Forgive them 
for they do not know what will be executed here.
How could they understand 
these hammer blows would be 
the final acts of our creation? 

Like workmen at the launch
of some great enterprise of state
they have come to watch 
the ceremony of our fierce ambition

and as they hoist me up to you              
before this brutal act of love
extinguishes my mortal life completely
Father forgive them
for they do not know what they are doing.