The Man and the betrayer

by Susan Handle Terbay

A man goes out to a garden with his friends to pray.

Dinner is concluded.

Food fills their stomachs.

Conversations fill their souls.

It is the last time the man would ever eat again.

It is the last time all of them will dine together.

It is the last of many moments for these men’s lives.

Nothing will ever be the same again.

Two will never return – the Man and the betrayer.

Only two are fully awake that night – the Man and the betrayer.

Both fully aware of what is happening

and what they are doing.

One will be put to death – the other will take his own life.

One will suffer for the sins of all - the other will be consumed by the sin of one.

One will rise above the earth - the other will fall to its depths.

One will reflect love and hope - the other will reflect selfishness and despair.

The Man will lie in a Sepulcher – in death – given the respect of a good man,

sheltered from the elements, abusers, resting in the honor of truth.

The betrayer lies dead somewhere in disgrace –

exposed to the elements – to animals of prey, alone in the waste of his lies.

The Man didn’t have to be crucified

if only we believed.

The betrayer didn’t have to hang himself

if only he believed.

Even now all these years later,

would the Man and the betrayer still be

the only two awake that fateful night;

the only two fully aware of the reality of the events?