stations of the crossed, by Kevin Reid

i.
… condemned to death

he won’t leave
the country is sick
but it’s home

ii.
… carries his cross

his want to stay
drags his need to escape
it’s difficult to hide

iii.
… falls for the first time

bombs don’t discern
he prays while he waits

iv.
… meets his mother 

weak they weep into each other
the first time since the invasion

 v.
 … helps him carry the cross

an orphaned friend
i’m coming with you

 vi.
… wipes his face  

he knew those eyes
they saved him from sniper fire
wiped his blood with her hijab

vii.
… falls the second time 

prays while he’s down
water is scarce

viii.
… meets the women

mothers of lost children
wives of dead men
sisters of fighting brothers join us

ix.
… falls the third time 

into killing hands
still he prays

x.
… stripped of his garments

his bones now greater than his skin

 xi.
… nailed to the cross

tortured by his own people
unsaved by bombs

xii.
… dies on the cross

the air full of cries
the earth blood

 xiii.
… taken from the cross 

headless
his body silenced

 xiv.

 …laid in the tomb

dumped in a mass grave