Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE WOODEN CHRIST by MARTHA FOOTE CROW

First Line: AT THE HIGH RIDGE
Last Line: HIVING IN ITS HEART.
Subject(s): JESUS CHRIST;
At the high ridge
Of a wide war-stricken realm
There stands an ancient wooden Christ.

Hollow the tottering image towers,
Eyeless and rotten, and decrepit there,
His smile a cruel twist.
Within the empty heart of this old Christ
Small stinging insects build their nests;
And iron-hearted soldiers cross themselves
The while they pass
The hollow-hearted figure by.

I think there is no Christ left there
In all those carnage-loving lands
Save only this of hollow wood
With wasp nests
Hiving in its heart.



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