Away to the beach,
shopping, friends,
space to love, laugh, sleep:
a long weekend,
the Easter break.
A strange name to mark
this holiday embrace.
A name no more, no less,
simply days retailers open
or choose to close.
Symbols linger, clash.
Buns bearing crosses
heat secular sense; while
music and dramatic Word
delight despite divides.
Santa’s accomplice
betrays an ancient lore,
Indulging desire in edible form;
consuming merciful grace
by gift of sweet denial.
More than rest or weekend break,
solace is offered in these days.
A story, no less, of pain and death:
A becoming of friends within
troubling, uncertain, light.
©JFF
April 2017