Saturday, November 10, 2012

The Truce



sitting in the dust
accusers round her, thick—

with pride and spittle
dribbling their bearded chins

fingers pointing, fists shaking, rocks in hand—
the ground trembling with cries for justice

‘such women’ they yell, violent distaste rolling
off their tongues

one by one, they felt the mirrored shame in His words
until only one accuser remained

as she waited for the airless moment to pass
and a stone to pierce her

the two of them breathed slowly together, seconds ticking, until
she put it down, rose up, and began to pardon herself


Copyright 2012 Jennifer Wagner


53 comments:

Barbara said...

I love the vividness of this poem. Your words draw me right into the scene and it is so easy to experience it with this woman. Nice use of this prompt!

Daydreamertoo said...

Loved this. Sometimes it is true, other people can forgive us, but what good is that if we cannot learn how to forgive ourselves.
Beautiful writing. Thank goodness there is redemption.

Brian Miller said...

smiles...a wonderful expansion on the scripture...one of my fav stories...as it gives me hope...i really like how you personalized the end as well...her putting it down and pardoning herself...what a powerful (and true) closure...

Victoria said...

Jennifer, I love that you turned to this biblical story (one of my favorites) for the theme. And the last line sums it up so well--that whole process of self-forgiveness. We not to be easy on ourselves.

Anonymous said...

Such an interesting piece. You make it just tremendously vivid and the assonance, internal almost rhyme works well too. Well done. k.

Mary said...

Wow...the truth is we do have to pardon ourselves, don't we? We are perhaps harder on ourselves than others. A thoughtful write.

J Cosmo Newbery said...

You paint a powerful picture. Nicely done.

Lisa Williams said...

A lovely portrayal of self forgiveness.

Grace said...

What a lovely turn around of this beautiful passage of forgiveness from His Words ~

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Your ending knocks the whole poem out of the park. Fantastic! We are our own harshest critics. Great write!

Laurie Kolp said...

Very touching... I really like "pride and spittle
dribbling"...

Claudia said...

very cool play on the bible story... i once played the woman in a musical and oh how i can feel her...the desperation and hope and always wondered if she changed her life after that encounter

Anonymous said...

so very powerful. i really like the feel to this, especially how you wrapped it up with the last line. great poem.

Dave King said...

Really tremendous writing, very powerful and compelling. I felt this.

Sayantini said...

Oh! It's like a painting of words. Very well-defined and vivid. I respect and adore this kind of poems. Thanks for sharing.
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ayala said...

A beautiful poem!

Abin Chakraborty said...

Christ and Mary Magdalene? Let he who is not a sinner cast a stone? The last line was just great.Wonderfully done.

Unknown said...

Loved your poetic take on the Biblical story.

Laura said...

wow...I held my breath through the end. I hope you will join me and others around the world in creating a gratitude quilt of words. To learn more about this project and how you can participate read the white box at the top of my blog. It would be wonderful to have you be a part of this.

Anonymous said...

Very good -- this reminds me of one of the stories of Jesus.

Anonymous said...

Ah, I see that AJ And Abin felt the same as I. A cool story -- and apparently, very apocryphal.

Sarav said...

Very well done-love that "airless moment to pass" really held the tension perfectly. :-)

Amrit Sinha said...

This was so string and powerful ... beautifully captured !!!

Amrit Sinha said...

I mean strong :-)

rch said...

Intense opening imagery that really pulls the reader in and a surprise ending, very nice.

Anonymous said...

Splendidly written, and wise beyond words. Caught by 'pride and spittle dribbling' which is very good.

hedgewitch said...

I wonder if one could even do this in our day, the hypocrisy is so entrenched, and the self-righteousness so pronounced. Well-drawn.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thanks Barbara! Hope you are doing well...prayers for you and all you're going through in the storm's aftermath too.

asteria's canvass said...

this reminded me of mary magdalene, very vivid.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Couldn't agree more, thanks Bren.

Jennifer Wagner said...

I love the hope within the story too, thanks so much Brian.

Jennifer Wagner said...

We definitely are not sometimes are we? One of my favorite stories as well. Thank you Victoria.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thanks so much--and thanks for hosting with a great prompt too!

Jennifer Wagner said...

I think we do. Thank you Mary!

Jennifer Wagner said...

Glad you think so J.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thank you very much Lisa--always appreciate your thoughts.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thanks Grace...I think forgiveness is one of the most beautiful things.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thanks so much Sherry--I agree, we can be our own worst critics indeed.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thank you Laurie!

Jennifer Wagner said...

I have always wondered about her too. Would be cool to see that play!

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thank you very much soul.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thanks for feeling it Dave, always appreciate your thoughts.

Jennifer Wagner said...

What a nice compliment Sayantini, thank you.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thanks Abin.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thank you AJ.

Jennifer Wagner said...

I'll have to check it out, thanks Laura.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Definitely was the inspiration here. Thanks yuanfields.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thank you Sara.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Glad you think so Green, thank you.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thank you rch!

Jennifer Wagner said...

What a lovely comment, thank you very much.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Maybe not in this manner, but in other ways I suppose. Thanks hedge, always appreciate your comments.

Jennifer Wagner said...

Thank for reading chips!