Tetelestai!
written by: Charlie Bottle
@CharlieBottle
The hand that stretched out to heal,
that wrote in the dirt, to truth reveal,
so saving a sinner from being stoned,
numbed with pain, is stretched and prone.
The hand that changed water into wine,
and sinners into saints divine,
made like new, leprous skins,
made whole all, not just kith and kin.
The hand helped Talitha rise,
and shared wisdom with the wise,
that shared cup and broke bread,
that hand lies lifeless, almost dead.
Lord, you did this for us,
man’s inhumanity to man is merciless,
I see your outstretched hands as a plea,
in an embrace of love for humanity,
offering us forgiveness,
infinite grace and divine mercy.
Your earthly eyes look at the sky,
Eloi! Eloi! Lama Sabachthani!
I hear your lone voice cry,
as winds howl, I watch silently,
flies, companions of silent eyes,
feast on the salt of your tears,
and probe your stripes, as death draws near,
your breath ebbs and flows in sighs,
shallower, shallower, shallower,
and shallower until,
before they still, you cry aloud,
Tetelestai!
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
The title comes from the Greek word τελεστές (tetelestai) meaning “it is finished” or “fully paid”, which according to St. John, are the last words of Jesus on the cross.
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