XI
          OBEDIENCE

Hanging with commanding simplicity
—the majesty of complete obedience—
without contortions or trembling,
like the banner of God that leads us,
through the dust of the battle
in a closed battalion. Your demeanor is one
of pure, spontaneous and noble obedience;
not like the enslaved Adam who bowed
his head to the ground with his labors,
selling his freedom to the devil
in exchange for a pittance. Upright,
like a son who freely obeys his father,
unwavering like your cross, with arms
opened wide, You show us that You have
nothing to hide, nor do You try to cover
your naked breast. You are obedient
—for obedience is the Reason—like a servant
of Love; You intervened for man, rescuing
his freedom from the claws of Satan,
giving him an awareness of the law,
since in realizing it, the one who does so
grants it to himself. Your naked body
reveals our law of divine freedom.
You, the life that lives and does not change;
You do not falter; You are; You are the Word
hanging as a standard which extends
from heaven to earth like a plumb line,
without complaint or protest. You died while
standing, like a man, not lying on the ground
like an animal; like an upright pillar.

You stand like a tower on which men           Genesis 9.
can learn to speak with a single voice:
the language of the Spirit, which praises
the glory of the Lord and clothes itself
in the flower of each nation’s understanding,           Acts 2.
and yes, mother, drawing close to the ear
of our heart, it blesses us and speaks softly
in the native tongue of each person.
In You, Jesus, your lineage becomes one,
and we all are joined by your Word.
Those who survived the deluge made
bricks to construct the Tower of Babel,
but You purified your body in the fire
of love, and made of it a living diamond.
And when your tower was built there was           1 Kings 6:7.
no sign of artistry: once its stones were hewn
they descended to You from heaven above.