They climbed on sketchy ladders towards God,
with winch and pulley hoisted hewn rock into heaven,
inhabited the sky with hammers,
defied gravity,
deified stone,
took up God's house to meet him,
and came down to their suppers
and small beer,
every night slept, lay with their smelly wives,
quarrelled and cuffed the children,
......
As I stand before the gates of death,
And take my final, trembling breath
I'm filled with fear and deep regret
For all the things I left unsaid
I try to find my way to faith,
But no matter how I pray,
I remain an atheist at heart
A heathen creature with no god,
And now, as death draws near,
I am afraid.
......
Since I am coming to that holy room,
Where, with thy choir of saints for evermore,
I shall be made thy music; as I come
I tune the instrument here at the door,
And what I must do then, think here before.
Whilst my physicians by their love are grown
Cosmographers, and I their map, who lie
Flat on this bed, that by them may be shown
That this is my south-west discovery,
......
De tafel is gedekt,
brood wordt gebroken,
wijn vloeit in stille bekers,
handen raken elkaar zacht.
Blikken kruisen in het kaarslicht,
woorden wegen zwaar,
de nacht wacht in de verte,
onzichtbaar maar nabij.
......
A man walks in the shadow of conviction,
silver coins cold against the warmth of his palm,
each one a small moon reflecting choices
etched deeper than the lines on his face.
His name echoes, not in triumph but in whispers,
folded into the corners of stories
where betrayal grows like vines,
tightening around memory and myth alike.
......
Jorge Mario Bergoglio,born in Buenos Aires,
walked among the people before he ever wore white.
He worked in science, studied theology,
rode buses,cleaned floors,and spoke with the quiet.
From Argentina's crowded streets,
he rose not on ambition, but humility.
A Jesuit by calling,
he chose the margins over the center.
......
De dageraad breekt zacht en stil,
zoals de Heer het scheppen wil.
Het graf is leeg,de steen is weg-
de dood verloor,het lam was recht.
De zoon,gekruisigd, leed en stierf,
maar op de derde dag Hij triomfeert.
De hemel zingt:Hij leeft,Hij leeft!
de dood gebroken,genade geeft.
......
Zacht licht glijdt door ochtendmist,
een belofte die de lente kust.
De stilte van de vroege dag,
hoop die fluistert in elke lach.
De steen was weg,het graf was leeg,
een opgestane liefde,warm en teer.
Niet slechts een verhaal van toen,
maar leven dat in harten bloeit en zoent.
......
Soft light spills through morning's haze,
a promise wrapped in warmer days.
The hush of dawn,the bloom,the breeze,
whispers of hope ride through the trees.
The stone was rolled,the tomb left bare,
a risen love now fills the air.
Not just a tale from long ago-
but life reborn in hearts that glow.
......
A man walks in the shadow of conviction,
silver coins cold against the warmth of his palm,
each one a small moon reflecting choices
etched deeper than the lines on his face.
His name echoes, not in triumph but in whispers,
folded into the corners of stories
where betrayal grows like vines,
tightening around memory and myth alike.
......