A Poem for Good Friday

Desolation

Oh why have you forsaken me
My God, my God, he cried
The desolation of the cry
and with that thought he died

And did he know what it would cost –
to carry all that sin?
when in the garden, close to tears
he said 'OK, you win'

'I'll do your will. I'll drink the cup
the cup that you've prepared.
I'll take the vile and cruel cross -
you're sure I can't be spared?'

So to his death he went that day
and hung upon the cross
so we would not experience
that same degree of loss.

But did it have to be that way?
could God not just have said
'You disobeyed, but I forgive,
you'll not lie with the dead.'

For life is only life with God
cut off from him is death
Sin is that cleaving entity
that shears us from God's breath

I think God had to die this way,
and rise up from the grave
so we could know he's conquered sin
and that our life is saved

© 2021 Kate Tennyson. All rights reserved. Used with permission.