On The Day That They Nailed Him To A Cross Poem by Gert Strydom

On the day that they nailed Him to a cross
the shepherds went to the fields as they usually did,
eating that afternoon under the shadow of a tree
but when the sun suddenly
at three o’clock was setting they were dumbstruck

looking astonished at the animals
that were going back to the corral
and darkness fell across the earth
and it looked as if it was night
while nature rebelled at the death of its creator
and quickly they went home.

Graves outside the city was torn open
while the curtain at the temple ripped right through,
while people at the crucifixion
in darkness crowded together
and frightened soldiers were wondering
what was happening

when people without fear said
let His blood be on our hands,
they cast darkness over their descendants
and the whole of humanity,
over each one in every nation

and over the whole of humanity
there hanged a shadow
while He gave the last convulsions,
about the death of God
in which everyone shared
from young to the old,
even them in the highest positions.