Two Poems

Easter Questions


Why did Mary
and Mary Magdalene
Go looking at the tomb?
What did they expect to see?

And did the angel
Cause the earthquake
That rolled the stone back
That he sat on?

And did the stone
Cause the earthquake or did the earthquake
Cause the stone to move?
And why did the angel sit there?

And how could he look like lightning
If he was wearing clothes?
And how could the clothes be white as snow
If there was never any snow?

And were the guards always there
And what did they look like
when they became like dead?

And why did the Marys not go into the tomb
Like the angel told them to?
And how can anyone be terrified but happy?

And how far did the women
Get away from the tomb before Jesus met them?
And exactly where was he
Before he met them, coming from where?

And why does Jesus only tell them
what they already knew?

And how far away is Galilee?
And where are the disciples?

And what if Jesus was stolen?
And if yes
By who exactly?

And was it Jesus who told
the disciples where to go?
Or was it one or both of the Marys?

And when Jesus went to see the eleven disciples,
Did he ever think of Judas?

And where were the eleven?
And when he got there
Had he walked or did he just appear?
And did he ever think of Judas?

Oh and when is the end of the age?

Dorothy Gale


In the movie,
how long is Dorothy somewhere other than Oz?
How long is she not there?
Some say a few days up to a week,
others guess it's for a couple months
based on clues
like the harvesting of cabbages in Kansas when she returns.
So is that for a short, intense duration
Or is it only the longer dream-like stretch?

Could it be that she's essentially in Kansas,
for almost all her life?
What did she do there for the days and hours
after Oz, I wonder.
Could that really be most of her life?
And does she ever even really
have an entire life?

Or could the dream be it?
Like most of her entirety
tucked inside that other world up there?
I tend to think so,
forgetting about the farmhands,
Auntie Em, and Uncle Henry,
forgetting about the vicious Miss Amira Gulch,
rich landowner who rides her bicycle
and forces the sheriff
to take Toto away for biting her,
creating what drives Dorothy to flee.

Where am I? And where is Dorothy?
Those ruby slippers might still hold power
to take her anywhere.
Those slippers are right down the street
in the museum at the capital!
I’ll take the train down now and again
to see them and rethink it
if I ever feel any doubt.