A-Poem-a-Day
Until Resurrection Day
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| Image credit: lambsblog.com |
THE BOLOGNA MAKER
"He was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth." Isaiah 53:7 N.I.V.
Father Bob drained the cup
and replaced the cover
on the brass pyx of Hosts.
Communion over
the two old friends
settled back
in their kitchen chairs
A natural storyteller
Leo began to reminisce
about Mr. Sattel
his neighbor in Roselle Park
in the 1940s –
the best bologna maker
at the pork store nearby
Eventually the neighbor
purchased some farmland
and moved to Penn's Grove
where he built a slaughterhouse
Leo spent time there
the summer between grammar
and high school
He had watched Mr. Sattel subdue
fat squealing hogs
and tenacious bulls
Saw him and his helpers
pull resisting livestock
by a rope fed through a nose ring
to another ring in the floor
where struggling animals
were systematically
slaughtered
one at a time
Mr. Sattel grew hardened
even provoked to anger
by the tugging and digging in of hooves
amid the ominous odor of blood
which roused the desperate instinct
against death –
The grueling labor of slaughter
left him no energy for grief
but his steel eyes glazed over
one muggy afternoon
when he told Leo,
"I did a lamb once.
It walked right alongside me
up the ramp.
I'll never
do it
again."
An edgy silence followed –
silent as paces of a lamb
There they sat, two white-haired friends
washed by the shed blood
of One Docile Lamb
Who walked Calvary's ramp
two thousand years ago
Maude Carolan
Come to my favorite annual
art & poetry event...
St. Catherine of Bologna
Patron of the Arts Association
presents..."A Little Bit of Soho in Ringwood, NJ"
19th Annual Photography, Art & Poetry Exhibition & Sale
St. Catherine of Bologna Parish Center
112 Erskine Road, Ringwood, NJ
Friday, March 9--6-11 pm
Saturday, March 10--4-11 pm
*Poetry Reading--7:30-9:30 pm
Sunday, March 11--10 am-3 pm
*I'm excited to report that I have won the Judges Choice Award
for my Purim poem, "Queen Esther, Brave & Beautiful."
Come to the event & stay for the poetry reading, Saturday evening,
and be sure to say "hello!"
Very moving poem. Thank you so much for sharing your work here, Maude... it's amazing!
ReplyDeleteIt was several years ago, but I can still remember clearly, Leo telling that story about the lamb. It caused me to shudder. Thanks for your comment, Kathy.
ReplyDelete