From Saskatoon and Michigan
I know all you Americans love Jesus —
From Maine
to the Straits of Magellan
Even a Jew, like myself,
Loves that true Jew Jesus, too
And yet as with so much, most know
Just half the truth
About the Nazarene
For Jesus, he wasn’t a shepherd;
Healing the blind
The lame, the lepers,
And don’t forget his free food and drink Distributions
One of the conditions
of actual health, of ease, indeed
The two roles are inimical, in fact
They’re diametrical
For shepherds breed obedience
Exploit their sheep
Deform them into imbeciles
And dock their tails
Instead the healer heals
Their wounds
To set them free
Enables their autonomy
And actual community —
The shepherd who since ancient times
Has symbolized the rule of kings
and rod-wielding pharaohs —
the ravaging Nomos —
Control, and order, custom
And, relatedly, the word for shepherd’s
Nomeus
In Greek
The healer, on the other hand, heals injuries
And remedies injustices
Brings justice — as opposed to law —
In concrete form — brings peace
And heals — that is, makes whole
The trees and plundered seas and fish
The mountains, skies, and insects —
Who repairs the world — including us
Is what we must unfold
