Easter

Three months passed since the Asian tsunami;

And much sadness still lingers in the air;

Easter has landed, north, south, east and west,

With many customs and pagan legends,

And here am I in Aotearoa,

Walking in reverse so my head tells me;

So strange, Easter falls in autumn, not spring.

Such a movable feast you will agree;

Marching along toward April showers,

And variable in so many ways:

Like the Westerlies crossing the Tasman,

Or like those northern Atlantic Trade Winds;

Akin to Pesach, and the Risen Christ;

Redemption is approached in heaps of ways.

Come Holy Week you and I watched TV;

Beamed images across ‘The Long White Cloud’;

Pope John Paul Two with tracheotomy,

In the Vatican at Saint Peter’s Square,

Gave an Easter muted blessing to us.

Through faith, we wished his silent voice would speak,

But, his wave to us signaled his farewell.

The fertility symbol of Easter,

You agree, would spring a new successor;

Amid chicks, bunnies, and eggs we behold

In awe, this mystic season of rebirth,

Where bright colors of daffodils’ sunlight,

Our hope, from a Savior who burst the tomb!

God’ Son, our great gift from the Almighty...

His death, resurrection, and ascension,

Reclaimed for you and me our Paradise;

So we pledge allegiance to the Risen;

Through Him, no evil power can hold sway,

 For we all have found grace in God' great sight,

 And His Light has brightened our darkest spot;

 So flying kites cannot outpace our prayers.

©Paterika Hengreaves

(April 2005/Arkles Bay, Whangaparaoa, New Zealand)

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