The Third Sorrowful Mystery

          -3-
The Crown

The crown of thorns stood in as Eden's hedge

for Veronica who wished to kiss his brow,

but she reached down to wipe around its edge

and took away his image on her towel.

So high a king the world has never seen,

this man who tastes the dust between his teeth,

the dust that but for him would not have been,

who made the very thorns he bleeds beneath.

Why does the whole Creation seem to turn

against this one whose being is to love?

Should not the very heavens start to burn,

and send avenging fire down from above?

But Christ will not be king by any art,
until you crown him so within your heart.