Magdalene

Would it have been better

If Christ had taken you quietly

Into his home,

And there made love to you,

Carpenter, and father of children

You would bear for him?

Would it have been preferable

If Christ had put aside his stories

To help Martha in the kitchen,

Tending to the needs of visitors,

Servile and humiliated,

Washing feet before his time?

Would it have been better

If Moses had been left alone

Without sister to raise him

Among the teachers of the Nile,

To remind him of the songs of his family,

Of tambourines and dancing?

Why did you kiss his feet with salt tears?

Why did you follow him to the Promised Land?

Why did you stand before the cross

And place his dead body into the tomb?

What did he mean to you,

And you to him?

Wished-for Child,

Well of Bitterness,

Beloved of the Sun,

Daughter of the Moon,

Virgin Whore,

Mother of God,

What example Christ to give you nothing but compassion?

What example Christ to speak into your hearts?

What example Christ to rebuke those who rebuke you,

As you wash his feet with perfume, tears, and the locks of your long hair?

What do you want from me?

What shall we give to each other?