A Poem for Those Who Mourn

I wonder if

when Jesus died

the disciples wanted to be

shut up in the tomb, too.

“Block out the light!

Tell the oxygen to leave!

Roll the stone in place, and keep it there!

For hope is dead and so are we!”

Gathered together

behind a locked door,

I wonder if they said,

“This wood is not strong enough,

this room is not dark enough,

to match our pain.”

They did not know

or understand

that the tomb would not stay closed

or dark

forever.

That as dawn illuminated the sky

on the third day,

so did His glory

illuminate the space

where the stone had once been.

Death,

darkness,

now defeated.

And yet,

2,000 years later,

graves seem to us

to remain full.

We bathe in refuse and say,

“How long, oh Lord?”

and ask,

“Life, where is your victory?”

We say,

“Let us crawl into the tomb,

because hope is dead and so are we.”

Crawl into the tomb with us, oh Lord,

and illuminate it with light.

Knock on the door, oh Lord,

and surprise us with Your life.