The Feast Day of St Luke

Yesterday was the feast day or festive day of St Luke, the author of the third gospel and the book of Acts of the Apostles. His narrative in Acts ends suddenly. Paul is in Rome, awaiting trial, and Luke, as companion and physician, is attending him, when the narrative just suddenly ends. All that we have left is legendary, of how Paul, as a Roman Citizen, was beheaded on charges of creating unrest and sedition. This poem looks at that legend, and the missing final chapter of Acts.

The Feast Day of St Luke

Dear Theophilus, just one final word
A final missive from the cell at Rome
Of what has been seen, and what heard
In the prison which has become a home

It had ended there, awaiting the trial
Paul still writing, letters come and go
His faith, hope and love so still beguile
And even prison bars are not a blow

What can I say, of how I watched my friend
Losing a show trial, despite words of passion
We both, I think, knew how it would end
The axe on the head, as he prayed compassion

Beloved physician, he said, write of these days
Of not the harsh death, but of the singing praise