For Barry

There are rocks at the foot of the Cross;
Human and Divine.
We scramble, we climb
only to joy.
And trust is the logic
of forgiveness.
A force of hope:
(for the pain is even graceful).
A cutting of two edges then,
An eternal heart,
A shattered soul.
Division inspires at least;
For the communication of God
unifies by grace.
And that certainty creates
This sunny, expectant Good Friday.

Alison McDermott lived in Melbourne, Australia when this poem appeared. She gave this poem to Noel Paul Stookey (of Peter, Paul, and Mary) after meeting him in 1986. He sent it on to us.