Lazarus the Friend of Christ: Larnaca Tomb Inscription
By Desmond Kon
“Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” – John 11:11
It is said that St Lazarus never smiled after.
After being
raised from the dead—
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What was Bethany like,
mouth of the tomb agape
in a long yawn?
How many people arrived as witness?
[Was the linen cloth—like old habits dying
hard, oh Mary Undoer of Knots—
unwrapped or pulled off,
in leavings, our old remains both material and not?]
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This is all germane matter, on the dotted nose.
What do they say,
about cutting off your nose,
only to spite the face?
What do they say about our open wounds
of overlong wrongdoing
one offense after another
against reason and truth,
against right conscience?
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[Reading scripture brings out the proverbial,
and life reads itself into the idiomatic
—timely, versified.]
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So, this is what awe and hope look like,
their faces as ashen?
So, this is what unbelief looks like, also?
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How does the Johannine Gospel read now,
the account where even death doesn’t have the last word?
Where does language go beyond each epoch—
the words, how they thread
across the plains and more language?
Lost
in time,
then unearthed
into the soft light
of day and all who arrived
to see.
Desmond Francis Xavier Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé is the author of an epistolary novel, a quasi-memoir, two lyric essay monographs, four hybrid works, nine poetry collections, and a creative guided journal. The former journalist has edited over twenty-five books and co-produced three audio books, several pro bono for non-profit organizations. Among other accolades, he is the recipient of the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award, Illumination Christian Book Award, National Indie Excellence Book Award, Poetry World Cup, Singapore Literature Prize, two Independent Publisher Book Awards, and four Living Now Book Awards. Desmond is Senior Lecturer of Creative Writing and Publishing at Nanyang Technological University. He can be found at desmondkon.com.
