Towards Damascus

Confused knots

of righteous anger and indignation
wrestle for supremacy
inside the stomach
of the man who knows
with absolute certitude
that God’s law is the way of salvation.
The knots grip and urge him
along his determined path
with the unassailable conviction
that only true believers understand.
The power of being right.
Onward to Damascus, with ropes and cords;
these he will use to bind his enemies.
God’s enemies,
and he is God’s servant, God’s sword.
His hand tightens upon his cloak
as the knots tighten in his belly.
The defender of God’s law
unknowingly strides towards the place
where a flash of light
and a word from above,
(or is it within?) awaits him.
There, the wonder of grace
will unlock the shackles of the law;
his knots will be untied,
his spirit unchained,
and his heart truly captured.

© Ken Rookes