Christ’s Baptism
by Steven Searcy
Ordinary Jordan day—John, hairy
and wild, growled at the false Pharisees
but his pulse quickened and he smiled to see
his lamb-cousin coming—he knew
he wasn’t worthy of those sandal-strings.
Down into the wet murk went the Nazarene
feet, rushing through the flow to crush
the ancient serpent swimming in the depths.
John gasped and Jesus gasped, drawn up
from the muddy dark, undrowned, sun
glinting on brown skin, and then a dove
dove down, lighting in white on dripping tresses:
see—see—see— son—son—son—
over the rush of river-air,
voice of Father-love, shared.
Steven Searcy is the author of Below the Brightness (Solum Literary Press, 2024). His poems have appeared in Southern Poetry Review, Commonweal, The Windhover, Ekstasis, Amethyst Review, and elsewhere. He lives with his wife and four sons in Georgia.
