"The Gnat"

(Composed at my dining room
table on January 12, 2009).

As I sat sipping a glass of wine,
I turned to the side
To flip the page of poetry
I was reading.

When I glanced back,
A gnat I spied,
Floating on the surface
Of my smooth merlot.

'How sad,' I thought at first,
'To waste a good drink
For an ignorant, dirty bug!'

When all at once, I laughed,
'What a glorious way to die,
A dive bomb into the wine,
Drinking deeply of the vine!'
As should I.

This is my blood which is shed for you

No timid sip to take,
But jumping, leaping,
Diving into the deep.

Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man
And drink his blood,
You have no life in you

Reckless abandon,
Complete emersion,
Total saturation in Christ.

My blood is true drink