Stumbling to Standing
“And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen…” Matthew 28:7a KJV

O how we’ve hurt Him! O how we’ve hurt Him!
We bound him and took Him from praying
in the garden… where drops of blood were falling,
descending, from His tender brow, as He was
interceding! As He was pleading for the strength
for enduring: the scoffing, the whipping,
the bleeding… the lying, the crowning of thorns,
the plucking of His beard, so His face was no longer
recognized, as His face—this face that looks
upon us with love, although we have denied Him
three times. The rooster is crowing, listen, listen…
not once, not twice, but thrice. Awake from your slumber!
Awake to the sound of His voice in the morning!
Hear the women! Hear the women speaking!
The Lord, He, has risen; He is risen! No longer hide
your face from Him… though He watched your footsteps
stumble, He now has arisen to sustain you!
He is Risen! He is Risen! Hallelujah! He is Risen!

Biography:

Jessica Renee Dawson, lives on Vancouver Island, and has studied poetry, and English through North Island College. She has taken poetry workshops under notable poets, Lynne Knight, and Jan Zwicky. Her works have appeared in journals including: Poetry Quarterly, INK IN THIRDS, Under the Bashō, The Tulane Review, Wild Plum, and Sijo. Dawson is also a former Stand Up For Mental Health comedian, and an award winning artist.