[John Asherah]

As I discard the cerements and emerge, it is the face of my beloved, which first I see.

For long moments I silently observe her, as faith and sorrow war within.
She rightly believes that I will return to fulfill my promise, yet there is fear and the smallest thread of doubt.

“Whom do you seek?” I ask.
Deep in her lamentation, she does not look until she hears me call her name.
“Mary!” I exclaim.

Never do I more feel my power, than in this moment when I speak her name and with a single word, banish all her fear and confirm hope. She spins in recognition and knows that I live.

To her I first unveil my mastery of death.

In this very moment, the authority of love is manifest and sorrow turns to joy.
Her voice is such that the dawn birds yield mid-song to silence.
In this instant of reunion her fervent embrace overwhelms me.

Forevermore, I shall recall this morning with a sigh and a smile.