
my christ
nothing is sanitised.
a raw object,
raked by their eyes,
i am small and lowly
at the feet of my Christ.
my hair is sharp like needles on his skin.
my tears wash the dirt stuck to his wounds.
like perfume, i cling.
our cries merge as water and blood
bursting from our bodies.
we do not hear the thunder,
do not see the darkness fall on us.
we feel the senseless suffering, we are
too weak for anger.
Body of Christ
Go into the bare chapel.
On the wall you will see a crucifix,
cold and uncompanioned.
Jesus hangs peeling,
plaster broken off one leg,
exposing a rod,
the rusty interior –
bare.
Go bare into the chapel.

Marlene Marburg is a poet, spiritual director and formator at Campion Centre of Ignatian Spirituality, Kew, in Melbourne.
Crucifix image by Shutterstock.