By Sarah J. Francois

What I told him with my eyes
I told him I was scared
That I was guilty
Yes.. caught in the act
I didn’t care
Not anymore
This was who I was
This sparsely clothes
Half a person before him
I’d heard of him before
His name whispered in awe
And sometimes in disdain
I heard he cured illnesses
Gave the blind sight
But as I stared at him
I saw a normal person
Yet I couldn’t feel fear
His demeanor His manner
His eyes
NO indignance
No righteous anger in them
NO hate
And I felt shame
It was a strange emotion
That I hadn’t felt in a while.
Masked by the scent of sin and sweat
That I bathed in each day
Oh yes
They told him about the law
The Law
Of course I knew about the law
And Yes
I deserved to be stoned
It was a bittersweet moment for me
If I died.. my sorrow would have ended
And my pain would leave
If I lived .. what would happen to me
What would happen to this man
No — I couldn’t live.

What sayest thou?
They said
Yes I thought–
Tell me my destiny.
If I should live or die.
If I should cry or sigh
What sayest thou?
The man before me stooped down and wrote on the ground
I was startled
What is he doing?
Has he gone mad?
We are talking about my life HERE

As he wrote it got quiet
Real quiet

He said something
I wasn’t particularly paying attention
Too busy shifting nervously

He went back to writing
They left
It was him and I.
I waited.
I still wanted to know the verdict.
What sayest thou?

Then I knew who he was.
He was the Lord.
He was my politically incorrect salvation.
MY lord.

And he said unto me
GO and sin no more.