<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">I Feel Sorry For Jesus</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 19px;" class=""><b class=""></b><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">People won't leave Him alone.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">I know He said, <i class="">wherever two or more</i></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><i class="">are gathered in my name</i> . . .</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">but I'll bet some days He regrets it.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 19px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Cozily they tell you what He wants</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">and doesn't want</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">as if they just got an e-mail.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Remember "Telephone," that pass-it-on game</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 19px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">where the message changed dramatically</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">by the time it rounded the circle?</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Well.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">People blame terrible pieties on Jesus.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 19px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">They want to be his special pet.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Jesus deserves better.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">I think He's been exhausted</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">for a very long time.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 19px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">He went <i class="">into the desert</i>, friends.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">He didn't go into the pomp.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">He didn't go into</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">the golden chandeliers.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 19px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">and say, <i class="">the truth tastes better here</i>.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">See? I'm talking like I know.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">It's dangerous talking for Jesus.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">You get carried away almost immediately.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 19px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">I stood in the spot where He was born.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">I closed my eyes where He died and didn't die.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Every twist of the Via Dolorosa</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">was written on my skin.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 19px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">And that makes me feel like being silent</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">for Him, you know? A secret pouch</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">of listening. You won't hear me</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">mention this again.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 19px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Naomi Shihab Nye</div></div></body></html>