To achieve
conscious loving union
with God -
or to weep joyously
on my knees
before an execution?

"Take up your cross
and follow me"

A reference to the hellish
torture of crucifixion -
or, as perhaps was intended,
an allusion to
the austerity of the path?

You misled me, Preacher.

I needed the method,
not the blood.


- fr