the holy Wednesday


nondescript
without the cred
of Maundy Thursday
or Good Friday
a hump day in their holy week
and what might happen
preparations for the supper
after
maybe they would ask Jesus
why he wept
before their triumph
in the city
or maybe he would try to explain
to them again
what temple would it
that would be destroyed
and for faith
what might happen in three days
(maybe the human part
anticipating
wasn’t so sure)
and would they heal
would they argue
with the righteous
and the legalists
would Jesus spend some time with his mother
of the other Marys
who would be the rocks
above the rock
after all

would not the crowds be following
for what would happen next
having entered
with the palms then
later
giving money-changers
(no one liked them
anyway)
what for
while in cool and shadowed places
lit by religious fire
there would be plans
from rhetoric
with money
and other reasons for betrayal

these could have been furthered
holy Wednesday
too
that here is gray
with spindly trees
reaching out
somewhere
against a rain
that feels fatalistic
even knowing
what’s to come
in ritual
remembrance
and triumph not of palms
or cloaks upon the ground

but of the spirit
and the flesh
in resurrection
and the offer of the same
to the same
for each of us
by Sunday


C L Couch


Photo by Eric Muhr on Unsplash