"crumbs from the master's table..."

"my daughter
master,
won't you help my daughter..."

i have come so far to
ask for your
compassion...please
help
her...please
help me.....

"but you are not
of the lost sheep of the
house of Israel

don't you know
that it is
a messiah's role to
save the chosen people
the children of his own tribe
to secure the promised land
to be a nationalistic leader...

you are not one of us
you are an "other"

I cannot help you
I have a mission,
an office,
a part to play in my
people's history, their
legacy, their future....

but,
she asks,
are not even the dogs
deserving of
the crumbs that fall
from the masters
table

and within
a moment's breath
a single beat
of his heart....

he gives up the ghost
of who he
thought he was
destined to be...for
the message
he'd been sent to
deliver

"the kingdom of God is
within you..."

not within the children of
Israel,
the chosen ones,
the ones who know, or think
they know

but within you...
and you
and you
and you
and you

and he knew
he would not be their
messiah...

he would be
her Saviour...
and his
and theirs
and mine....

and when the
greeks and romans
came seeking him at the
feast, he knew he would
have to
give up the
Messiah-ghost
again...
and again...
and again...

in exchange

for the impartial,
and  universal
Christ-message
he was
sent to
share,
broadcast,
spread

abroad...


* This poem references a story from the 15th Chapter of Matthew and the 7th Chapter of Mark.