Joseph of Arimathea

Joseph of Arimathea
was an honorable counsellor,
a faithful disciple;
he wrote history:
he saved the savior.

Joseph of Arimathea
begged the body from Pilate,
wrapped him in a linen cloth,
laid him down in a fresh tomb,
washed the body of spit and blood.

Joseph, Joseph.

Nicodemus brought as hundred pounds of aloe and myrrh.
I say, he and Joseph packed the wounds and stitched his side.
They rolled a great stone to the door and sealed the tomb,
three Mary's waited, crying in the dying light.

On Sabbath eve
the tomb was unsecured.
Mary, Mary, Salome,
returning Sunday,
found the stone rolled away;
pale son in the doorway.