Impatient soldiers seek out volunteers
        to take up the cross out of pity,
    until a predictable target appears -
        a stranger from some other city.

    Simon steps over and lifts up the wood,
        impelled by a clear resolution
    to do this longsuffering person some good
        by aiding his swift execution.

    An old Buddhist master liked dog for a treat
    although Buddhist ethics forbade eating meat.
    One morning - indulging this dangerous vice -
    his servant popped in: "what's that food? Is it nice?"
    "Soy pies!" the embarrassed superior lied
    and ran to his favourite prayer-room, to hide.

    A few hours later the monk heard a noise
    (a thing that he liked even less than bad boys);
    he summoned his slave with a self-righteous shout -
    "what's all this unbearable racket about?"
    His servant replied with a gleam in his eyes:
    "it's only a fight between rival soy pies."

    A rather devout Buddhist llama
    was having a serious drama
            for - counting up sheep -
            he'd fallen asleep
    and miscalculated his Karma!

    A tent-dwelling woman with muscular legs,
        Jael wove sturdy blankets with wool from her sheep
        (ironic, perhaps, since she hated to sleep)
    and slung out her home on unshakable pegs.

    Her blankets were famous, and fetched a good price
        (she'd hardly be finished and someone would buy it),
        but Jael's tastes were simple: her regular diet
    consisted of vegetables, sheep's-milk and rice;

    adapted, of course, if she welcomed a guest!
        Whenever a stranger would visit Jael's tent
        her carefully-stored blanket-money was spent:
    she'd rage through the market, demanding the best.

    Now, Sisera knew this and as the man fled 
        a battle he'd lost in a hideous way -
        the whole of his army cut down in a day! -
    he rushed to Jael's dwelling in search of a bed.

    But would she accept him? Their families were friends -
        traditional allies, whatever the war;
        but in times of strife one can never be sure
    how far such an "ancient alliance" extends...

    "You're welcome," Jael said as she stepped out to meet him,
        "I see that you're frightened, but don't be afraid -
        my guest-room is ready, my table is laid."
    She touched both his sandals to peacefully greet him. 

    "I'm thirsty!" was Sisera's desperate reply,
        "good woman, please get me some water to drink;
        I've fled through the desert for hours, I think -
    if I don't have water I'm going to die!"

    Jael stifled her laughter - a guest of this ilk
        demanding no more than a bowlful of water
        when even the miserable carpenter's daughter
    had been in that day for a bowlful of milk?

    She poured out some sheep's-milk and Sisera drank it
        then looked for the nearest available bed.
        His hostess undressed him, put oil on his head
    and covered him up with a hand-woven blanket.

    "If people come searching, just say I'm not here"
        said Sisera weakly - "stand guard by the door."
        The soldier, exhausted, was sleeping before
    she'd even replied with a soft: "I'll be here."

    A few minutes later she'd stepped through the door,
        acquired a peg from the front of her tent
        (a trusty old bronze one that couldn't be bent)
    and hammered the sleeping man's head to the floor.

    A moment of silence, then rough voices said:
        "whoever's got Sisera - let him come out!"
        Jael, offering milk-bowls, said: "no need to shout -
    the guy's in my guest-room, attached to the bed.

[Source: The Bible]

    Mary, unbalanced by all of this madness,
            was longing to find and enfold him;
    the man looked towards her, and - knowing her sadness -
            allowed her to silently hold him.

    Heavy, she battled to set her child free
            to finish what she had begun, 
    but all that the gathering people could see
            was someone embracing her son.

    Stones and old rubble lie scattered around -
            the man gets his foot stuck and slips.
    Collapsing, he tumbles face-first to the ground;
            there's blood on his neck and his lips. 

    Funny, this notion so clear and intact
            of being unspeakably poor
    expressed in the simple unbearable fact
            of not standing up anymore.

    Heavy with sadness, and over his shoulder
            two pieces of untreated wood:
    thus burdened, the young man looked suddenly older
            as - friendless, forgotten - he stood.

    Closing his eyes to the sharpness that tore him
            he saw only darkness; but then,
    half-sensing that something serene lay before him,
            the man let them open again. 

    Standing alone at the front of the court
            condemned to a criminal's death,
    it looked as if some sharp and saddening thought
            had made the young man hold his breath.

    Restless, the people surged forward to meet him
            and, sounding a curious cry, 
    began to abuse him, despise him, mistreat him,
            abandon him - not knowing why.

        A mischievous monkey looked down from a tree
        and saw that the Buddha was taking a pee;
        he picked up a hazelnut, counted to three
                then unhesitatingly threw it.

        But Buddha was already walking away;
        the mismanaged hazelnut bounced on the clay.
        The holy man, later, was rumoured to say
                "it may have been wiser to chew it."

        When God had made Adam and Eve,
        he crafted Eduardo and Steve,
            then Paula, Renée,
            and old Mrs. May,
        and others you wouldn't believe.