The Cross
January 6, 2021
Empty his cross
took on a life
fame and infamy
of its own
Withered by sun and swollen the wood rotted down
Romans rotating home took mementos of their tour
symbols of conquest caked with soil and blood
One framed repentance
and hung it on the wall
Women came to
clean up its remains
to sell or to burn
with their spices
Raised now in
pious memory
mimicry or mockery
Relic of salvation
splintered
severally
On January 6, as insurgents erected a gallows outside the US Capitol building in DC, others struggled to raise a cross outside of the State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan


Quite a juxtaposition.