Tag Archives: sin

November 24, 2014

The Grave Robber

	The Grave Robber
121	One night a broken grave robber
	set out to claim his prize.
	A mission yielding gold and gems
	would quell his appetite.
125	A newly laid archbishopric
	had lost its budding chief.
	The funeral at noon that day
	precludes the robber’s sneak.
	He strapped his boots, pulled on his gloves,
130	he donned his shadow mask,
	and when the clock struck 12 that night
	he sought his greedy task.
	The winding streets of sleepy town
	obscured the burglar’s quest.
135	A cat, he crept up to the church
	to prey on gruesome death.
	The handle of the giant door
	was locked by key of brass.
	The heaven-peaked high window glass
140	nor yet would let him pass.
	A secret way into the shrine
	is known to gnostic few:
	brave men descend to hidden depths
	and crawl a tunnel through.
145	This man raised up a sewer grate
	and shimmied down the hole.
	He paddled to a foul rat nest,
	brushed vermin down below.
	Thus he revealed a secret cave,
150	a fox hole to the crypts.
	He crossed into an open room
	inhabited by lichs.
	The ghosts of priests and holy men
	laid tranquilly at rest;
155	the tremor of their peaceful guilt
	panged lightly on his chest.
	Continue on, the end is near,
	step up the sacred stairs
	and enter the impressive nave.
160	Fulfill your evening dares.
	He stood before the archbishop,
	all clad in silk and gold,
	who lie asleep, an endless deep –
	his flesh corrupt and cold.
165	The thief knew of the saint’s great deeds,
	but naught would sway his aim.
	The crook was focused on his task:
	his rushed larcenous game.
	He took the crozier and the ring;
170	he took the clothes and all.
	The high and pious man laid nude
	like Eden at the Fall.
	Now to escape before the dawn,
	back just the way he came!
175	The robber wound back through the streets
	and to his home again.
	That bandit never was ensnared.
	The township’s heart was lost.
	What started as one man’s grave sins
180	came at a graver cost.