Foot-Washing: Grime
Grime from rough-hewn,
dusty paths
settles relentlessly
between the toes
of calloused, sandalled
feet,
grown sticky with the
sweat of effort
of scrambling up a
bank,
slithering round
puddles
or hastening on the
way,
close-knit friends, to
meet.
Grubby, gritted, the
feet of the baffled twelve,
before whom Jesus
substitutes his garments for a towel,
takes a bowl:
and then –
- and then,
the Creator of the Cosmos
falls upon his knees,
casts away the last
vestiges of power
and washes every fetid
toenail,
hardpad heel and ankle
raw,
with a tenderness, surpassing any servant’s,
as the ‘punishment of
slaves’ lurks outside the door.
Listen to this poem read by the author: Click Here
Other poems, hymns and meditations for Lent, Holy Week and Easter can be accessed here
