A-Poem-a-Day
Until Resurrection Day
THE DUNGEON
Israel
Pilgrimage—2006
There is a
pit
beneath the
House of Caiaphas
a once dark,
dismal, terrifying hole
into which
prisoners
were lowered
by ropes
under their
armpits
Our Lord Jesus
likely
was brought
here directly
from the
Garden of Gethsemane
on the night He
was betrayed by Judas
The scene
seems less horrific today
than when I
was here in 1986
Then, it was
easier to imagine
a terrifying
incarceration
of a
prisoner, especially
an innocent
prisoner, alone
amid ominous dampness
and vermin
in the very bowels
of the earth
The pit is located
beneath a church—
The Church of
Saint Peter of Gallicantu
(of the
cock’s crow)
named for where
in the courtyard
Peter denied knowing
Jesus three times
It’s been
spiffed-up—
It’s brighter.
The descent, easier
It’s not nearly
as dismal
but, back in eighty-six
as Wayne
Monbleau read Psalm 22
in that
detestable dungeon
…they pierced
my hands and my feet.
I can count all my bones…[1]
I closed my
eyes, and literally
trembled…trembled…trembled
imagining how
terribly Jesus suffered
to wash my
sins away
Maude Carolan
Pych
3/24/12
Rev 4 3/25/18
[1] Psalm
22:17-18 NASB
Notes: Rev. Wayne Monbleau, mentioned in this poem, is the host of "Let's Talk About Jesus" call-in radio counseling program. He was the leader of my 1986 pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
The above poem, "The Dungeon" appears in my new book, "Behold the Lamb...poetically!" Elm Hill Press. It is available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. For information, go to http://maudecarolanpych.com.
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