a different kind of king

I lay my cloak before you

where children wave palms

an unexpected Messiah

an impromptu song to sing

for now they give you honor

but derision waits its days

I lay down my dreams

soft they languish at roadside

your foal slows over their tenderest pieces

so I relinquish my heart

a spontaneous gift of love

for a bleeding, dying king

sunlight forfeits to deepening gloom

light had fled with hope at its side

although you could have made a celestial escape

where angels would laid down their robes

instead of an incomprehensible sacrifice

of torn curtains and rolled-away stones

because you saw me wandering helpless

on the edge of town lost in darkness

stopped and bent to take my hand