Pilate Hands
When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing,
but that rather a tumult was made, he took water,
and washed his hands before the multitude, saying,
I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.
Mat 27:24
They can’t wash away the stains,
final decisions
that have fatal consequences
Capital punishment decree hangs
like a Damocles sword
Blood judgment descending,
inexorably irreversible
Pilate hands
always got their thumbs
pointed down
Giving death-lust satisfaction
to the condor crowd
Pilate hands
can’t be dirty deeds washed clean
Having Caesar-given power:
Life-and-death authoritative breath
is so intoxicating
Getting Pontius toga drunk
on innocent blood —
They spill the scarlet lifeforce,
violently,
onto their violet judicial robes
of injustice
Black is their cloaked hearts,
red dagger hands
are six-finger degrees of separation removed
from the hangman
Cross over into the darkly barren land,
where the workers of iniquity
forever wash their faces
in nail-rust, crimson colored miry sand
Copyright © Freddie Robinson Jr. | Year Posted 2018
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