Gethsemane by Patrick T. Reardon

Gethsemane

Forget the cross.
I’m already crying
like a baby. Why
must I drink this
fatal medicine? Why
endure and then give
up the ghost? Why,
then, the scholars in
the Temple? Why
those fishes and
loaves? Why
Elijah and Moses on
the mountain? Why
all that light? That
flood of light? Light
is God, and God is the
True Light. Why
not a woman and
children? Why
not long years to
breathe this air and
see each morning
the fill of light? Why
put one step in front
of the other? Why
am I alone, now and
always, even when those
guys are awake? Why
does the grass here smell
of goat shit? Why
choose? Why
do it? Who
will wipe these tears?

Patrick T. Reardon is the author of eight books, including Requiem for David, a poetry collection published in 2017 by Silver Birch Press, and Faith Stripped to Its Essence, a literary-religious commentary on Shusaku Endo’s Silence, the basis of the recent Martin Scorsese movie, published in 2016 by ACTA. Reardon worked for 32 years as a reporter with the Chicago Tribune, specializing in urban affairs, and is now writing a book about the untold story of the impact of the elevated railroad Loop on the stability and development of Chicago. His essays, book reviews and poetry have appeared frequently in American and European publications.

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