Stations of the Cross 3: Jesus falls for the first time

He made the stones that pave the roads of Zion
And well he knows the path we make him tread
He met the devil as a roaring lion
And still refused to turn these stones to bread,
Choosing instead, as Love will always choose,
This darker path into the heart of pain.
And now he falls upon the stones that bruise
The flesh, that break and scrape the tender skin.
He and the earth he made were never closer,
Divinity and dust come face to face.
We flinch back from his via dolorosa,
He sets his face like flint and takes our place,
Staggers beneath the black weight of us all
And falls with us that he might break our fall.

--Malcolm Guite (1957- ), Anglican priest, poet, songwriter, musician, and academic, from Sounding the Seasons (2012), also found at https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/blog/