Road to Emmaus

(Picture found here)

There have been crucifixions, too,

in our town—innocents

gunned down in their doorways

or in school halls; or radiation's

black outlines, three crosses

marked a sister's chest: no wonder

we walk in quiet rage, musing.

And who, on this road, will join us,

seeming unaware

of the worst news in the neighborhood,

but spelling out the history of the prophets

and a future:

    Ought not Christ to have suffered these things

    and to enter into his glory?

Could our hearts still burn within us?

Will we ask the stranger to stay?

Break bread? And how

will our well-hammered and nailed

kitchens and bedrooms appear to us

when we understand who he is

just as he steals away?

~Sandra Duguid