XXXVIII
DEER

We wounded you and, like a deer
who runs off to die in its familiar thicket,
You escaped from the Mount of Calvary,
dying of thirst and the loss of blood,
passing through paths of bitterness
to the heavenly source of your love;
“I thirst,” you cried. And we,           John 19:28.
your brothers and cruel hunters,
who were also dying of thirst, sought
the source of your wine by following
your bloody trail through this sad life.
During the wedding in Cana you turned            John 2.
water into wine, but in the martyrdom
of your passion you changed red wine
into the living water of Sychar, which           John 4.
quenches thirst forever. You gladly gave
your blood, as a mystical exchange
for our souls—Samaritans
with six husbands, maddened concubines
of knowledge that give us no comfort.
And the heart that was led astray
by the customs of this mundane era,
finally stumbles on the entrance
to your heart, its refuge, and is revived
after hearing words from your mouth.