"...THE WEPYING TYME..."

my 9 year old self
bargins with God
"Let me die in her place!"

Christ on the cross
snickers with candlelight
at such impudence

"If you want a life
...a death...take me!"
"Straight swop!" I explain reasonably

I urge God again
to accept my offer
the silence deepens

the silence enters him
fills him to the brim
only a tear escapes

God un-god-ed
by my sister's death
I tell Him to go to Hell


*

The title comes from a phrase of Sir Thomas More whilst he awaited trail and execution in the the Tower of London.