Maundy Thursday

by Sarah Rossiter

April 7, 2011

Kneeling on Boston Common it’s this foot,
naked, resting in my lap with clean towel,
socks, warm water waiting, that tells me
this is what happens after a cold winter
of deep snow when you’re homeless in
dirty socks and cracked shoes that don’t fit:
this foot, bloody, swollen, toes deformed,
I wash gently, first one, then the other, and
never have I felt so close to Jesus, his feet,
bare, pierced, bloodied, nailed to the wooden
cross.