Get Things Ready

Get Things Ready

(Jesus said: “He will take you upstairs and show you a large furnished room. Get things ready there.” Luke 22:12)

Send me somewhere, and I will go,
outlying villages where the streams run slow,
to find the banquet hall reserved for the few,
one hundred or less, and with a view
of the pacing river off the redwood balcony.

Let me return with happy news,
the room is perfect; blue jazz or summer blues,
and now to flood it intimate late night mood,
savory and candles, talk and food
while watching the river off the redwood balcony.

We would gather, shoes set aside,
hesitation and invention, step inside,
and now the mood crowds our own expectations;
inspecting our invitations
while we watch the river off the redwood balcony.

Hold that thought, repeat that phrase,
banquets are laughter and jump-the-gun applause.
Why this supper before suffering;
this meal and announcement of Your intention
to die before we have barely digested

Your words at all?

Send me somewhere, and I will go,
baffling villages where streams once flowed,
to find the leftovers, many or a few,
and invite them all, alive and new
to watch for the river off the redwood balcony.