apology to lazarus

(who Jesus raised from the dead four days after he was buried)

You taste perfection
as I walk through dust and heat
to ease your sisters’ hearts
and reclaim you from the grave
your shrouded waking body proof
that I can conquer all
all laws shatter, come together
re-formed in Me

Hannah sacrificed her only son
Job, all that he had on this earth
Zaccheus lost a livelihood
and John the Baptist, his head
offered on a silver sybarite

But this most bitter sacrifice I ask of you
"Lazarus come forth."
Leave the exultant completion
the glory that exceeds the promise
of even the briefest glimpse
by human eyes
Confine your spirit, once more
to flesh and blood, bone and sinew
Come out, Lazarus, to this
poor shadow of a resurrection
sacrifice your death
and forgive Me, as I weep.

Copyright © 2001 by Susan Plett

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Susan Plett writes from her home in Calgary, Albert, Canada. Her poem "Two Years After " just won Honorable Mention in the 2005 Utmost Christian Writers Contest. For more Susan, visit her at her Accidental Poet blog.