Not even the darkness of sin and the absence of light can defy Judas’ memory of forgiveness from the friend he betrayed unto death.
The door slams shut and the light is gone
and the darkness hold its sway.
And I run from the place where my heart found grace.
Now no lamp can shine the way.
My fearful sight cannot glimpse the hope
which my master shared within.
And I hide in this dark, for my plan is stark
and the end does now begin.
A cornered rat has no place to run
but towards the tunnel’s end.
Once I’d seen, far ahead, gracious wine and bread
where the Shepherd, sheep would tend.
Plans now awry, every panicked thought
leads to death or empty life.
Then I turn with a start, and hope like a dart,
fills my hollowed soul with life.
I hear His voice and the words He said
of a love that cannot die.
“Is this message for me, is this fear set free?
Is forgiveness real?” I cry.
The cross I see and his body hangs
and I know my future dies.
But he turns, in my pain, and his voice again:
“Come and live in Paradise”.
Fr Mark Skelton is a priest of the Plymouth Diocese, a poet and has always had a keen interest in the interface between Literature and Theology.
