Holocaust

Three hours he knelt in agony 
To drink the bitter cup to the 
very dregs. 
Atonement for sins of all mankind. 
But vice and crime increase 
Was then that agony in vain 
Is he being crucified again? 
Three falls he had 
On that weary road to Calvary 
Weighed with the cross 
With the burden of the sins 
of all mankind. 
But man falls and falls 
With no desire of rising again. 
Were then Christ’s falls in vain? 
If man does not want to rise again. 
Three hours he hung, 
A shamed figure between two thieves 
In untold anguish. 
Side pierced , broken, bleeding! 
Were then these pangs in vain? 
If man goes on and makes no move 
His life to change. 
Three Marys stood at the foot of the cross 
Women like in their sorrow 
Mourning, weeping, to see him suffer thus 
Fellow feeling. 
Does then their sorrow seem in vain? 
If man today heeds not 
Another human being in pain. 

Jeannette Cabraal