461 - Unresurrected

Unresurrected

By Kathy Coffey

What if the story ended here:
Mary stares bitterly at
a granite slab sealing the tomb
the gardener only weeds.

No smells of charcoal smoke or
grilled fish drift across the lake.
The road to Emmaus a silent trudge
through uncharted wasteland.

Fearful neurotics squabble in
locked rooms, yielding to death.
The cynics triumph; no soft
"Shalom" breaks their tirade.

Imagine this unbroken winter
and alleluias arc, surprised:
we blink like Lazarus in sunlight;
our gravecloths flutter like wings.

Kathy Coffey teaches English at the University of Colorado, Denver, and Regis College. Her work has appeared in America, Spiritual Life, National Catholic Reporter, Marriage and Family, Catechumenate, Christian Science Monitor, Praying, and The Christian Century. Her poetry has appeared previously in THEOLOGY TODAY.