Poem March 12, 2018 Issue

Wouldn’t you have done the same?

(See the story of Bartimaeus from Mark 10:46–52)

Mari G. de Milone

I was, as always, on the side of the road,
encumbered by the cloak of what I thought my destiny.
Suddenly, I heard the news of Christ approaching.
My whole being trembled with joy,
as I perceived, among the shadows, the light of his redeeming presence.
That’s when I cried out.
Wouldn’t you have done the same?

My cry cut through the roar of other voices
until it reached him.
He stopped for a moment, and called me.
When I heard his voice, the years of indigence,
of blindness, of dependence, fled,
like darkness from the light.
Casting off my garment,
I opened my way to him.
Wouldn’t you have done the same?

Then, I saw him, perceiving for the first time
the light of his gaze illumine mine.
I saw it because he saw me
as I am, free, perfect, eternal,
never born in matter
nor subject to it.
Since then, I follow him.
Wouldn’t you do the same?

Going forward with him, now,
the Christ lights up my path!

—Mari G. de Milone

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