Where arrows pierced your skin, your legs, your side
I felt the pain
I promised myself never to forget
Because I was there and I was you
Pierced by a million gazes like arrows
My weakness exposed

Some averted their eye — they understood
Others stood and defied me
Their meek and mild words
Inflicting a million wounds

Sticks and stones to my flesh

And when the body could no longer bear
The pain, it released its grip

My spirit rose and burned
With crimson flame
Then orange, yellow, white

They looked away and shielded their eyes
But for what? Why now?
We all burned in effigy
The crust was pulverized
And those who dared to look
Were able to see

In the place of judgment
There was life

_{This poem is Part 2 of the The Unholy Triptych}