From however far away,
detail. The lovers, almost fully clothed,
amid bushes, her round blonde face
delighted, hopeful.
The returned Prodigal, kneeling,
embraced, exhausted – such
precision of apology and joy –
but seen by whom in the middle distance,
that fascinating distance you don’t notice?
A bystander, a passerby
who stops to take the scene in wholly.
As in Christ Presented to the People
so they may choose between the thief and him:
steps, platform, doorway, every window full,
spear-carriers, hangers-on, all known;
and Christ, thorned head down, looking
tired, as one does after a beating,
caught likewise by the moment, with nowhere to go.