Bridegroom Song: A Poem for Great and Holy Week

The title of the of icon above is "Christ the Bridegroom". This juxtaposition of concepts, this inherent mystery, strikes me to the heart every Great Fast. This is how Christ comes to His divine wedding with His bride, His people, His Church--God bleeding, tortured, utterly humiliated. Earlier this Lent, my own meditation on this icon called forth this poem into being. May we all be blessed as we enter into His Passion tonight and tomorrow.

A note: The accents indicate an unusually long stress on a word, and should be read as such. The form is meant to be extremely simple and forceful, expressing, I hope, something of undiluted longing and anguish.

Bridegroom Song

By Mary Jessica Woods

  

Sée hów I come to thee—

Wrísts ráw and bound for thee,

Brów blóody-crowned for thee,

Wílt thóu come to me?

Lóok hów I gaze for thee—

Éyes sált-blind for thee,

Weeping God divine for thee,

Wílt thóu come to me?

Féel hów I ache for thee—

Shoulders stiff with blood for thee,

Féet fóuled in mud for thee,

Wílt thóu come to me?

Hear my lóve sóng to thee—

Whíp-wáils high for thee,

Every shaking cry for thee,

Wílt thóu come to me?

Knów, nów, my thirst for thee—

Bríde, my own, I long for thee,

Behold my sorrow strong for thee,

Wílt thóu come to me?

 

~ © Mary Jessica Woods, 2015