JUBILEE 2000: VIA CRUCIS / by Joe Castorino

September 2000

Pummeled by Parkinson’s,

he battles through the basilica,

leaning forward, heavily,

hunched over, crushed

under an invisible

wooden cross, laden

with the world’s woes;

from the ocean of onlookers,

a mother mildly lifts up

her little newborn,

and the Polish pope

most tenderly

blesses the babe

with a gentle kiss;

the spectators exhale

a halo as they breathlessly

and solemnly sigh, “O!”