Eros of Darkness
by Lisa Lahey
I cover the mirrors in My kingdom because I
can’t bear the reflection of your hatred. How do they speak of me?
Who do they say I am?
I never tempted jesus to betray you when he
dwelled in the arid desert of loneliness. you
left in the abyss of deprivation. I sent him sustenance;
a banquet of platters filled with succulent fruits and
ripe dates to soothe his parched throat and
silver fishes of the seas you created
to end his fast of deprivation. I offered him a
glorious kingdom, rife with riches and rivers of cool water
that would soothe his bleeding wounds.
you left your son alone in the virulent desert.
you say I dwelled within the blackened ash
of Judas’ soul before that traitor swung from a tree
of his own making.
you say I burned within the fiery heart
of Pilate and screamed within the uproarious cries
of the ones who waited to slaughter the lamb. A lie.
Do not blame me for your children’s mistakes!
you call Me the Father of Lies, but I remind
you of the carnage wrapped in sin and succor
that was committed on the top of that hill.
It ripped my brother from this earth and
where were you? Where were you when my brother
cried out for respite from the fear, the anguish,
the ropes that bound and the nails that pierced
his hands and his feet onto the very tree
that drew the life and soul from him?
yes, I was there.
you won’t release me from your eternal hell,
but you released your son from his suffering,
and somewhere in this wretched darkness, remember this, father,
My name will always mean Giver of Light.
Lisa Lahey is an associate acquisitions editor for After Dinner Conversation Magazine. She is published in 34th Parallel Magazine, Spaceports and Spidersilk, Suddenly, Without Warning, Why Vandalism?, and she will soon be published in Epater Magazine, Spadina Literary Review, Literally Stories, and Ariel Chart.
