Two Faces Of Messiah Poem by Liza Sud
Two Faces Of Messiah
For me Joseph is a Messiah.
Jesus of our time.
The image of Son of the Father,
That's how I understand.
If I wanted to hear
real JESUS, HIS VOICE -
it is Joseph, whom I hear,
his baritone, nervous tone.
His drowning in emotions,
the flow of sublime thoughts,
his life full of the extorsions,
all broken and all distort.
I was looking for Christ since childhood,
Joseph was recognized at once.
He's not an iconic actor -
not the vision of sweet kind love -
But the image of Man who suffered:
Gethemania, loneliness,
when he was completely abandoned,
still met Angel and remained blessed.
Went through courts for Word and inspections,
And at 32 - the exile,
it's like death and then - resurrection,
when he started his new life.
When he cryed under lonely ceiling,
when he spat the new English words
broke his tongue with too much saliva,
but still serving the Loving Word.
He was alone in winter Venice,
like really a poet-monk,
where through the life's coldness and stiffness
you feel his warm hand and God's Love.
Jews are waiting their Messiah
every moment and every time.
they are nourishing their kindness
with the person who puts them high.
Such a person is in all nations.
such a person comes to fulfill.
It is Joseph who had this mission.
It is Joseph who went through it.
He compared himself to Jesus,
In December: you were the first.
And not every one hears and sees it.
That's the level he stood upon.
(Death was not tragedy for Jesus,
he accepted it freely for us.
So that we found no tragedy here -
in this paradox earthly life) .
But of course there are higher levels,
But in Russia of those times -
it was him who served for the blessing,
and for us swines he was enough.
And there is second part of Jesus -
it is when He is Son of God -
that's the image saint John is giving,
that's the second, and pure part,
The two faces of Christ I found,
The two faces - I met in life:
Joseph Brodsky - the Son of Man and
John of Kronstadt - the Son of God.
Son of Word, the updated Torah,
Face of tragedy, Face of light.
Unaccepted and the adored one,
the two servants on threads from sky.
Maybe it should be seen vice versa:
It is Christ who's in everyone.
But these two for me are more close
to His image, His voice, His mind.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Delivering Poems Around The World
Poems are the property of their respective owners. All information has been reproduced here for educational and informational purposes to benefit site visitors, and is provided at no charge...
5/7/2024 3:01:42 AM # 1.0.0.1119
What a magnificent poem, Elizaveta! I mean that word MAGNIFICENT very strongly, because your poem has a largeness of purpose and intimacy of tone, which unite its public and private voices. Your poem has many dimensions but I won't list them because what matters is the portrait of Joseph Brodsky you paint in words. You have increased first my knowledge of the person J.B. was, and second my understanding of the role he played in YOUR life. We Americans live such prosperous and privileged lives we cannot comprehend the challenges and hardships you and fellow Russians and J.B. endured. I bow my head in respect. And when you pray to Christ, when you invoke Him in your poems, You are living on a plateau of spirituality above anything I can achieve. And I sense the same in your poem: it is long because its subject is so vast. I thought I knew Joseph Brodsky through my readings, but it's only recently in your accounts that I really have met the Man and Poet, and this poem is a culmination of my learning about him. I'm just a novice here, you are the master. But how quickly I am learning!