Circumcision of Christ, artist unknown

The Story of Christmas
Day 10 Reading: Luke 2:21

Blood Trail
by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Where did the bloodshed begin?
Follow the trail to its start

The last shall be first
A centurion’s spear
Used in an indifferent stab, declaring he’s done

A few steps back,
his rings are found
Glistening like garnets,
each still moist
The ring of jagged nails
The ring of stinging thorns
The ring of prickly ridicule

More clues emerge
A stone that made him stumble
Monstrous cast off from a ravenous whip
Trace from a Sadducee’s slap

Outside Jerusalem, salty crimson evidence
In the dark earth of a lonely garden
Beside a vandalized tomb
Atop a hill overlooking the city

An awl tests positive in Nazareth
Perhaps he was pierced while working with his father
A knife tests positive in Bethlehem
Sharp enough for Abraham’s mark on an 8 day old son
Sharp enough to cut the cord
First blood found

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Blood Trail © 2010 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
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