Death Poetica

Behind barbed wire
In the county jail
Woman recites poetry;
Declares she’ll die.

Bodies young, old
Form lines.
Summoned to penance, 
Knowing they’ll die.

Bodies in lines
Words in lines
Dust and grime
Ash to ash
Dust to dust

A friar 
smudges
symbol 
into brow
after brow.
The texture: 
touch, trust.
We are 
blackened
by death.

We gasp 
in prayer.
We sigh 
line breaks.
We ache 
as children,
as symbols 
on pages.
Each 
offering: 
poem, 
prayer, 
body --
Living 
Sacrifice.

Love in flesh
is pierced
by thorns,
killed 
on a cross.
Then and now. 

We deny 
ourselves
So we don’t
deny Him.
We remember
our death.