Set in Stone

An angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone, and sat on it. (Matt 28: 2)

The End

proclaimed the stone
as it does still in every time and place
and every language; adding, perhaps,
By order of the State.

To those who have dared to hope
and insist on coming back, it says
Do you think you are strong enough to move me?
You are nothing.

Two centuries ago it said
Some men are born for slavery.
The economy depends on it.

The angel said little.
His lightning countenance spoke for itself.
He sat on the stone
Swinging his legs as if he did this every day.

The stone, though still there, has moved,
revealing ….. what?
An absence, harder at first to bear
than the lifeless body.

But that’s the point.
Hope is on the loose now,
scarred, alive, unfettered,
waiting to be recognised
in a locked room or a garden,
in a stranger on the road,
around a table where bread is shared.

             Written by Daniel Rutland and dedicated to the Lifeline Expedition