Good Friday

a long, sleepless night.
humiliating trials.
beatings. my face hurts from being struck.
eyes of hate
spit in my face.
before Pilate, rejected for Barabbas.
familiar faces in the crowd,
now unrecognizable with hate.

off to the fort.
I know what is coming.
I am stripped. tied to a post.
young men, soldiers, calloused hearts
those terrible whips.
arugh!!
searing pain.
it takes my breath away.
when will it stop?

finally it ends.
i can feel the warm blood running down my legs
my back, my neck, my backside,
stinging, throbbing, pain like i have never known.

now what?
a robe. a crown of thorns.
oouucchh.
the robe soaks into my back
I am beaten again.

A cross bar tied to my shoulders
we begin the march though the city
I am exhausted.
the crowds that line the street
many faces I have seen before.
the former blind man, former leper, former demoniac
it seems that everyone is against me now.
why?
O God, why? why does it have to hurt so much?

The place of Crucifixion.
many people are here.
something is happening to draw a crowd.

my arms are stretched out.
a soldier sits on my arm.
ouch. get off.
I see the hammer, i see the nail.
I hear the thud.
aaarrruuuggghhh!!!!
I feel the iron pierce my wrist
one, then the other.
my hands curl up in tremors of pain

I am raised and set on the crossbar
more nails
my feet
oh God, this is terrible.

It is really hard to breath
I push and pull
struggling for every breath

the sky is blue, there are birds in the air
so many wonderful days
now this
my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

what have I done to receive this?
I feel my life slipping away
Goodbye my mother.
Father, into thy hands, I commit my spirit.