"The voice of him whom I love!"

Lazarus by Anna Cuypers

Lazarus
by Lili Van Zanten

Four days in the cave – already
He was more fish than fisherman
Slimy  stinky  waiting for the worms
Having survived death
Decomposition was not –
Unwelcome
Morsel by morsel  the soil swallowing
Memory and desire
Gauze wound round his face   his feet  his hands
Anesthetizing
He snuggled like a bulb in my winter garden.
“Lazarus arise!”
A voice in a dream
The voice of him whom he loved!
The soil splits alongside the bricks
In my front yard garden.
From frozen earth emerging
From cozy death cocoons
A dozen yellow crocus
Reluctant resurrections
For Christ’s sake
Leave me alone!  The sunlight
Hurts my eyes.  I have known
April brilliance but it doesn’t end there
More likely blight or drought
The clipper or the worm…
Arise!
A voice in a dream
The voice of him whom I love!
God  how I’d love to pull up the covers
And go back to sleep
But he rolls away the boulder
And I try again
Stumbling blindly from the cave
My gauze wrapped feet
Hopping toward the light
Tripping   balancing   blooming
I reach for the sun