{"id":411,"date":"2007-09-29T15:26:12","date_gmt":"2007-09-29T19:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/2007\/09\/29\/the-testament-of-philogenes-the-gardener\/"},"modified":"2014-04-06T07:26:01","modified_gmt":"2014-04-06T11:26:01","slug":"the-testament-of-philogenes-the-gardener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/the-testament-of-philogenes-the-gardener\/","title":{"rendered":"The Testament of Philogenes the Gardener"},"content":{"rendered":"
I am an ancient gardener, In Zion I was born and raised, In truth I never met the man, Nor do I know if Yeshu saw The day he died I was away, On Sabbath, though, I overheard Apparently a multitude It took all day to walk back home, In twilight dim, without delay I scrambled out, but off she sped The woman now was with two men, I held my breath as they unrolled For if they thought an empty tomb Yet this was not my only dread, While Jewish groups deem Christ became Thus, step by step, in psychic terms Moreover, every Christian dreams O let us heed our primal myth, <\/p>\n Jerusalem I am an ancient gardener, Philogenes by name –Though Adam I have called myself Since to this land I came. In Zion I was born and raised, While not so far from meThe one they now call Christ the Lord Grew up in Galilee. In truth I never met the man, Despite my Christian boss,A […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,31,34,12,17,16,33],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Philogenes by name –
Though Adam <\/em>I have called myself
Since to this land I came.<\/p>\n
While not so far from me
The one they now call Christ the Lord
Grew up in Galilee.<\/p>\n
Despite my Christian boss,
A Pharisee, who loaned the tomb
When died he on the cross.<\/p>\n
Himself as Son divine,
Instead of mortal prophet who
Should hubris undermine.<\/p>\n
I always fled the crowd
That thronged the city at the Feast
And pushed, and pulled, and rowed.<\/p>\n
The body had been laid
Within the very tomb behind
A lettuce bed I’d made.<\/p>\n
Had come to view the cave:
Just then the only thought I had
Was how those plants to save.<\/p>\n
I got there late at night;
At four I rose and stealthily
Approached that dreaded site.<\/p>\n
I moved the casualties;
From compost pit I then beheld
A woman on her knees.<\/p>\n
Before I could her call;
When heard I voices soon fast by,
I hid behind a wall.<\/p>\n
And to the cave they rushed;
I watched while more prize lettuces
Were felled, or split, or crushed.<\/p>\n
The stone along its groove;
“He has<\/em> arisen!” someone cried.
I was too stunned to move:<\/p>\n
Meant resurrection plain –
Instead of, say, removal sly –
The crowds would come again.<\/p>\n
I feared the Christian mind;
And time has shown I was correct
To leave it all behind.<\/p>\n
The Son of God above,
Some proselytes appear to think
That God bore flesh for love.<\/p>\n
The Name is yielding power
To man, who in the sombre tale
Erects the Babel Tower.<\/p>\n
Of dark apocalypse:
For he well knows unconsciously
God’s world he would eclipse.<\/p>\n
Which serves the flesh and soul,
Where earth’s the garden of the Lord
And he who loves it whole.<\/p>\n\n
\n
1 January 2000<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"