Roll the Scroll

Those angry men of Nazareth

attending customed synagogue

were keen to hear their lad made good,

the son of village carpenter.

The ancient texts were handed him,

concluding, Israel’s victory,

her glory over enemies.

But he stopped short, excised that part,

rolled up the scroll and handed back.

The congregation heard that space,

now empty scrolls to his disgrace,

for he had cut the vital lines,

the signs of favour, divine hand.

It is sometimes less words that count

as those omitted from account.

I read the ancient texts myself,

that passage of the Nazarene,

as fading old ways rose to new,

and cross men let their anger spew

to hilltop, where they’d nail it soon,

to wood honed by the carpenter.

Now hide the parchment, vellum too,

for men again use such to woo

those willing to assert their rule,

once more are ready to pursue

the slaughter of the innocents.

And keening mothers weep and wail,

just as their ancestors before.

Published by Poetry Potion, 31st July 2025 https://www.poetrypotion.com/roll-the-scroll-by-stephen-kingsnorth/