IX
BLOOD

White Christ who gave your blood
for us, bloodless Christ
who gave the fluid of your veins
for our old poisoned blood;
a dried up lake, your whiteness brightens
that river of blood and covers the valley
of tears under your feet. The blood
you shed in forgiveness casts
an eternal light on all that it touched;
the blood you gave us is what remains,
soft white bread, your white body. Blood;
your red blood like the light that is filtered
through grains—petals—of pure gold,
an undreamed of flower of the spirits
of earth in a time that was incandescent.

Blood! Blood! Because of you, Christ,
blood is the wine that quenches the soul’s
terrible thirst that oppresses the universe.
The clusters of trembling stars that fill
the heavenly vault—the grapevine
that protects our earth from the eternal
sun that does not burn—those clusters
of stars, what do they emanate, but blood?
What is their light, but blood that burns
with love? Blood that fills us during
the life of our body, and redeems us;           Leviticus 17:11.
love does not give fruit without blood. When
you shed it completely, you became white;
your body, white like soft white bread,
white like the bloodless moon
that circles the earth, cold and white,
carrying the torch of unending love
during the night of our world. The moon           Revelation 6:12.
became blood. You, Son of Man,
were of our blood, and for us
you shed it all and covered men
with the sea of your blood. You, lamb
of the blood of boundless love,
with this red blood you removed
the stain of sin—the awareness
of doing wrong that causes remorse—
and you let us walk free from the heavy
burden which opresses our heart.

Oh Christ of forgiveness! You forgive us
even before we sin, and thus we can
avoid the storm which leads us
to the depths of perdition. You forgive
the man who knows not what he does:           Luke 23:34.
your white lunar light is forgiveness!