Μή μου ἅπτου (Noli me tangere)
Early in the morning
on the day after the sabbath
I went to where you lay
in a garden sepulchre
cold wet with dew
but you weren’t there
the tomb was open
the scent of myrrh still sharp
wafting from the stones
I couldn’t comprehend
why after all that had happened
this simple thing
all that I asked for
to be by your side a while
before that long forever
of separation
was taken away
why you were taken away
or by whom
Perhaps I had jumped to conclusions
maybe my faith was, after all
too small
but I had seen you gasp your last
release your spirit
lie pale in your mother’s arms
I had stood by your body
and bathed the blood and dirt away
anointed you a final time
as I’d poured the spikenard on your feet
brushed your hair back from your still features
wrapped you in linen
Those men, so bright
asked me why I was weeping
asked me who I was seeking
asked me…
didn’t they understand?
It wasn’t until I saw you
and even then, I didn’t dare believe
No, I couldn’t grasp the wholeness of it
until you said my name
You were as bright as they were
and I couldn’t stop crying
Teacher
Teacher
In every conversation we ever had
you reminded me this would happen
and yet somewhere in my heart
I didn’t know the truth of it
that your death
was not the end of the story
and I shouldn’t cling to you
in that way
Instead you sent me off
from the city of the dead
to the places of the living
to tell the others
the prophecies
were fulfilled in full
I am just a woman
who has followed you
basking in your wisdom
I am just a woman
who has been blessed beyond measure
to testify that one morning
I went to visit you in your grave
and instead saw you risen from it
accompanied
by angels
Alonso Cano: Noli me tangere
3-27-16 (Easter) (c) RCGA
The Mystic Fool 