The Ascension--with Rewrites

(Author’s note: This poem is a humorous satire on how a modern media mentality would view the story of Christ’s Ascension.) The Ascension (with Rewrites) By Mark D. Stucky Look! Up in the sky! Not a bird. Certainly no plane. It’s super God-man! Victor over gravity as well as the grave! The ascension was levitation without benefit of special effects, foreshadowed by walking, without sinking, on slippery water molecules while strolling on the sea in a storm. Miracles of physics. Mysteries of motives. Why leave just then? Why leave in that way? You canceled your ministry story arc too soon. Disciples wished you had stayed for another season. Think of the additional episodes untold and unsold! You made a flashy exit, for sure, but to a tiny audience share. Why not soar spectacularly over cheering crowds of thousands and jump-start church conversions during lift-off? Why not hover over those foolish Pharisees and, with shock and awe, rain fireballs down their open mouths? That would also spice up the sequel. The Book of Acts would need revisions, and screenwriters would savor doing rewrites. Your story could have been a blockbuster, but you work in mystifying ways, and your ways are not Hollywood ways. (First published in Soul-Lit, Fall/Winter 2022. See also my poem "God’s on Mute.") (Image by Josh Eckstein on Unsplash.com.)