The Cathedral Poem by Denis Martindale

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I had visited the cathedral many times before.
I had seen the giant cross many times before.
I had seen Jesus on that cross many times before.
But one day was completely different.
The day I became a Christian believer.
Jesus was more real to me than the cathedral,
The cross and the figure of Jesus on that cross.
He was alive, no longer crucified, and no longer dead.
He was now more than a man to me and every believer
And yet that figure on that cross affected me deeply,
Making me weep for the very first time.
I was standing there alone, as far as I could tell.
Even if surrounded by other people at that time,
My tears would still have fallen from my eyes.
The sore lump in my throat reinforced the emotions
While time passed by so slowly until I recovered again.
The strange thing was that I could not move.
I looked at my legs because I had lost control of them,
But then a gentle peace came over me suddenly.
Only then was I able to walk out of the cathedral.
As I turned around, I realised the irony of it all,
For my life had been turned around, too.
I never returned to the cathedral again.
I felt no need to attend there as I once did.
Jesus had moved on.
So had I.


Denis Martindale. June 2021.