Passion, the Noun

The candlelight of Christ's righteousness cleanseth they of filthy garments, as doth the fuller's soap.

Our hearts burn when sliced thinly through. We labor on, bearing the weight of every step, bleeding at the teeth. Heartache is sharp; we are wrung and hung between heaven and earth, that the garments be blanched. Herein is life, and we scrape our knees upon the Comforter. Heedlessly we pray with stains invisible to the naked eye.

I speak of the Passover Lamb.

With great desire I desire its fruit, yea, full of bitterness. With great desire I desire to place upon my lips the Cup; bottomless, yet plentiful; sweet on the tongue, yet beautifully morose. I scrape my cheek against the skin, harrowing at my jaws the blood of the winepress on foot. I would dare stand. I thirst; the caul and the liver beneath the caul taste of vinegar. Take these things hence! -- yet not I. Oh, but a kiss from heaven should suffice.

This garden be wilted, and its dew my forehead. Eyes have not I, for so appeareth the night sky, and the sun be as the new moon. The owl would sing, but I sing alone as I pray. There is not a woe upon the earth but that the woman should beg for His body, and anoint Him publicly. There is not a woe upon the earth but that the woman should reel them in only to push them out. There is not a woe upon the earth but that the woman should bathe in myrrh and bitter herbs. We bleed, though I be barren indeed; yea this be my joy.

I'd cling dearly to the nails of the cross, and become Him whose garments were parted for me. Upon the mitre hath the golden inscription HOLINESS TO THE LORD, for His death was mine, and His robe mine. We suffer on the account of blasphemy; a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate. Yea, the song is as the toll of the early church; a dreadful woe, and a necessary flow. I am contented here. The drops upon the forehead precede the seal.

My truest identity then, friends, is the woman clothed with the sun, with the stars upon her head, and the moon beneath her feet. Yea, the earth is His footstool, and we stand upon the sands and the seas together. Bring thenceforth the bottle, and pour. Oh, and a kiss from heaven shall suffice.