Boundary Breaker I

Part 1 of my latest six-part poem entitled 'Boundary Breaker':

Our enemy, my friend.
Titus, dressed in your lorica plumata,
paludamentum flaring round you in the breeze
and fastened at your shoulder,
the very image of the professional officer;
vine-stick as symbol of your authority
to order this one to "Go" and that one to "Come".
"Go," "Come," "Do this," "Do that,"
and your servant, your slave, simply acts.
Yet this man that you order so and so
is dear to you, very dear, sharing your bed,
your own pais, ailing and sick,
for whom you will intercede.
Our enemy, their friend,
my elders testify to me; you love our people,
your built our synagogue, your love
radical in action crosses boundaries of race,
religion, sexuality and class.
Your love is faith in action.
If faith without deeds is dead,
your faith is alive, more so than any in Israel.

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Paul Simon - Love And Hard Times.