Thank god he is in the ground
at last.
Now we can remake him
in our own image,
mold him like clay
and bake him in the oven
of our longing.

That bothersome tongue of his
has been silenced.
From the wood of his cross
we will carve a dummy
to sit on our knees
and speak
our words.

With the wood that remains
we will stoke the fires
to roast the heretics
and the heathen
and heat the plowshares
so we can beat them
into swords.

We will render him
into soap to wash our Ceasars
clean of their sins
We will make buttons
of his bones
to fasten our vestments.

At the feast we will Laze,rus-
hing past the lowly
to fill our plates.
We will not live on
bread alone, but on the lamb
and fish
and miraculous wines

We will be sure to turn the other
cheat, and to give our coats
to those who ask,
for styles change
and they are already out
of fashion.

We will obey the precept
Judge not less.
Instead we will judge more
than he.
We will remove the plank
from our own eye
and use the wood for gallows.

As we dig his grave
we will lay the foundations
of our churches.
There are many widows
and their mites
will build many churches.

He has promised us
that the poor will always be
with us.
So we can count on the coffers
to always
be full.

We will keep careful accounts.
The books will always balance for
we will write the books.
We will go spel l carefully.
We will record his words
judasciously.

If only he will stay in the ground,
all will be well.
If not, then Plan B.
which is plan A executed
once he has left
again.