Aching for Home

"Ikon: The Harrowing of Hell", by Denise Levertov

(An interesting take on Jesus having to return to this life after rescuing the dead in hell...)

... to break
through earth and stone of the faithless world
back to the cold sepulchre, tearstained
stifling shroud; to break from them
back into breath and heartbeat, and walk
the world again, closed into days and weeks again,
wounds of His anguish open, and Spirit
streaming through every cell of flesh...

His mortal flesh was lit from within, now,
and aching for home. He must return,
first, in Divine patience, and know
hunger again, and give
to humble friends the joy
of giving Him food - fish and a honeycomb.

We walked round Mora cemetery in the cold rain and thought what it would be like to come back into that... Interesting how the cemetery maintains the distinctions in life - these grand "houses" at the entrance belong to the richest (the last one on the left has the son of the very wealthy family whose holiday home we stayed in during our first month here - killed in a motorbike accident); then there are the middle families with large marble slabs; then the poorest at one end, with not much except their plot marker and some plastic flowers.