The Prisoner
Posted: 29 Mar 2019, 23:38
The Prisoner
They walk hundreds of miles
to catch a glimpse of the prisoner
behind the barred window.
His small cell: a wooden platform
for a bed, walls scarred
and pock-marked. A devoted
band of family and believers
incarcerated along with their beloved
die daily from lack of food
and disease in this fortress
so vile birds don’t fly over.
He gives them his portion
and more. His youngest son
absorbed in prayer
falls through a skylight,
pierced below by a stake.
Still alive he implores his father
to let him die, his sacrifice
to enable the believers who journey
so far to come into the prisoner’s
presence and receive his blessing.
Though he has the power to save him,
the prisoner grants the boy’s wish.
Not long after, the pilgrims
are allowed, due to the changing
attitude of the jailers in their growing
reverence for the prisoner, to visit him
and gaze upon his countenance.
They walk hundreds of miles
to catch a glimpse of the prisoner
behind the barred window.
His small cell: a wooden platform
for a bed, walls scarred
and pock-marked. A devoted
band of family and believers
incarcerated along with their beloved
die daily from lack of food
and disease in this fortress
so vile birds don’t fly over.
He gives them his portion
and more. His youngest son
absorbed in prayer
falls through a skylight,
pierced below by a stake.
Still alive he implores his father
to let him die, his sacrifice
to enable the believers who journey
so far to come into the prisoner’s
presence and receive his blessing.
Though he has the power to save him,
the prisoner grants the boy’s wish.
Not long after, the pilgrims
are allowed, due to the changing
attitude of the jailers in their growing
reverence for the prisoner, to visit him
and gaze upon his countenance.