He’d heard about a girl from Galilee,
who cried in bed and swore she had no rest
from hungry demons quarreling in her breast.
So he paid a visit. Crouching on one knee
and warding off her fractious family,
he asked each demon’s name. Sternly he blessed
the things in her which could not be expressed
without trembling. This was the therapy
she needed to traverse her own Red Sea.
The next day she slept late; she bathed and dressed
and offered to escort the quiet guest
down to the gate. Reaching the cedar tree,
she looked back, frightened—then heard him say, Come
and walked beside him to Jerusalem.