Friday, the Fourth Week of Lent

Friday, the Fourth Week of Lent

PAUL:
[What would you do] if I broke out of jail
would you stand up and walk out on me
lend me your keys
and I’ll show you around.
Perhaps I should introduce myself
Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will
I was knocked off my ass
most people think it was a horse I was riding—
I was riding the wave of the silent majority
the unbridled apathy I could harness
saddle ride the winds
I wanted the whole bit.
I could verbalize their silence
they swallowed all my boasts
we ate each others’ hearts
some of us sold our souls for the people’s mandate
our mission: to search out and destroy
smash the Jesus freaks.
But I flipped out in the hot sun
sprawled across the desert blind
saw visions
heard voices
the whole trip reminded me of…

DIETRICH
[the whole trip reminded me of]
the journey to Jerusalem
just couldn’t stay away—Jesus—
the fatherland is my German shepherd—
and Dietrich, Dietrich Bonhoeffer is my name.
I get by with a little help from
my jailers
my memories
my education
my lawyer
pencils
scraps of paper
envelopes
anything larger than the head of a pin
can hold the wisdom of all times:
we are all prisoners sitting on death row.
I sat two years
protected from the madmen
from Hitler Goering Eichmann
then the storm troopers broke into the cell
they built themselves.
It was not a matter of amnesty…

MARTIN
[It was not a matter of amnesty]
or pardon someone said
if you blacks waited two hundred years
you could wait another twenty
we don’t want to move too fast
look at how far we’ve come already.
Martin Luther King here
I have come all the way from
the dark continent of your heart
played the clown at one night stands
of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
fought the rednecks
white liberals
blue meanies
on street corners at school house gates
you name it scars and stripes forever
in Montgomery Birmingham Chicago.
What else could I do
someone has to take out the garbage
so I went to help the garbage collectors.
Nobody loves the man who collects…

JESUS
[Nobody loves the man who collects]
the taxes are the sign and wonder
of an occupied territory
love your jailers
be good to those who take the 20%.
I am the Christ
I am the one who knocked Paul off his
asked Dietrich to stand up to Hitler
mananged to get Martin to sit down
helped all three to escape into prison
for there are no taxes there:
the rooms are free
and so are the occupants.
Besides: I needed time to talk to them alone
they were always so busy.
“I go now to prepare a place for you
I will come back and take you to myself
so that you will be where I am.
You know how to get to the place
where I am going.”