The Lingering Wound • poems by Simon Anton Niño Diego Baena

Anno Domini

1.

After the crucifixion
Pontius Pilate

went to Vegas
to play poker

Judas drank
himself senseless

woke up with
the worst hangover

in history

2.

So, I enter my father’s room,
read decades old love letters.
Like the pieces of a Lego toy,
I gather all the mementos, listening
to the crows cawing outside,
greeting the same morning
for thousands of years.

3.

When the Messiah returns
Judas will have lost

his silver coins
betting on cockfights

every Sunday
in the Philippines