Credit Noizeology.wordpress.com
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
