J19 The Death Of John, The Baptist Poem by Simple Simon

Jesus became so popular,
That Herod, the then ruler,
Suspected Jesus to be John,
Who came back alive again.

Herod did dislike John,
And sent him to prison,
For the simple reason,
John condemned his action.

The wife of his brother,
Herod had married, rather
It led to an action improper,
That was done by a ruler.

Herod wanted to kill John,
But was afraid of its reaction
From the Jewish people then
So, he kept John in prison.

On the birthday of Herod,
When his daughter danced,
He was very much pleased.
What she wanted, he asked?

At her mother’s hint,
She was upon bent
To ask for a present,
One that was unpleasant.

She expressed her wish,
For John’s head on a dish,
That Herod couldn’t refuse,
Having given his promise.

Alas, Herod had John
Beheaded in the prison.
With John’s head on a dish
He satisfied her sadistic wish,

John’s body was taken
By his disciples then
With due honor, they carried,
And it was neatly buried.

This news, when they told Jesus,
He retired to a lonely place,
But behind him followed,
A restless large crowd.

He took pity on them.
Near him, they all came.
Those who were ill,
He healed them all.

It was late, getting dark,
But they didn’t go back.
Jesus told his disciples,
To feed those people.”

“With five loaves of bread
And two fish, how to feed? ”
His disciples stood puzzled.
Yet, Jesus gave them food.

He looked up to heaven.
And broke one by one
All those five loaves
And he gave the pieces.

More bread was available,
To satisfy all the people,
And twelve basket full
Remained there still.

Not counting the women
And their little children,
About five thousand men,
Ate bread, leaving none!