A Beheading

1. John the Baptist instructs his zealots (Matthew 11: 2-3)

Clap your hands and stamp your feet,

run quickly from this prison,

for in this captivity

my hope is arisen.

Don’t cry out to the desert

or weep into the Jordan,

find Jesus of Nazareth –

my hope and my cousin.

Ask my cousin if he fasts,

listen well to what he says:

if he and his disciples fast

ignore what he says

but return to the Jordan,

remain in our wilderness,

wait for a true Son of Man

who will bloody the winepress.

But if he does not fast:

his disciples are well-fed,

the sick healed, demons cast,

if he raises the dead

then clap your hands and stamp your feet,

and hurry to this prison

to sing my psalms that speak

of sin and retribution.

We’ll chant the song of Isaiah,

shout stories of Elijah:

the mighty lion of Judah

will judge the wolf and viper –

for Herod married Herodias

ere her husband’s bones were cold,

his niece Salome shakes her hips

at princes for whom she is sold –

the fork of the anointed Messiah

will rake through the granary

and throw Herodias on the fire,

so she’ll burn with Salome;

I see my Lord’s mighty axe

clap down on Herod’s neck,

he drags the princes from the court,

stamps them through the winepress.

So now you run and ask him,

be wise and clear of thought:

is he but a man who fasts

or a lion who does not?

2. Jesus hears the news of the death of John the Baptist (Mathew 14: 12-13)

Oh Salome, Herod piped and you danced on Persian carpets,

saving your mother’s name by reeling in daddy’s stares;

on Minoan silver you received the head of a prophet;

yet I would lie beside you and leave you my cares.

John, I wail but no one comes to mourn your death.

You dined alone on locusts in the wilderness –

now your head’s passed round like wine at a banquet.

Blood and honey drip down through my thoughts.

Mother, sing my name for me! Joseph, craft what I must do!

John was Elijah, calling for fire and ferocity,

but if I am now to do all that I would see through,

how I would use the measured steps of Salome!

3. Jesus hears the wisdom of Salome

Jesus, let’s be practical, we need to be political;

stories about both of us are circulating Judea –

it would serve you well to understand mine.

When my father died my mother Herodias

married my uncle Herod for our family’s future:

our position’s based on what we do for others,

if the Romans think we’ve lost control we’re out –

John the Baptist was turning people against us and,

outside of his wilderness, I’ve few places to go.

You’ve shown you can use sex as well as I can:

“I tell you he who looks lustfully on a woman

has committed adultery with her.”  Such words

will have the world kneeling for your forgiveness.

“Render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s”.  Jesus,

some day you or your followers will deal with Rome;

I’ve never made much claim to be a prophetess,

but let me say that I guess your kingdom’s progress

will necessitate far more beheadings than my own.

2008