day of the wren

wordcraft for the feast of st. stephen:


a-hunting, a-hunting, what a day to begin
clouds tell us where can we find the great wren?
fleeing his catch the betraying bird shudders
O how to escape the celebration of mummers?

they hunt me for treachery not of my own
they hunt me, O why can’t they leave me alone?
the wild-eyed strawboys a-hunting the wren
garish colours of scarecrows their gaze turns within

how blind can you be to your own treachery?
given over as they are to innermost lechery
yet continue they do as always they will
pursue me with violence that can by no means fill

he who was martyred by an intimate betrayal
the celebration of new bread dipped in a grail
the wrenboys mourn for poor saint stephen
still hunting the wren like all the other heathen

just like our man judas who died in trespass
the kiss of betrayal, his blood in the grass
festive parade for my death – O how are they lost
how far have they wandered away from the cross

chasing me still they all flutter by
can they help but be captured in tradition but why?
why do they hunt me, hateful words do they utter
and how it began with this weary mutter:

‘the wren, the wren – the king of all birds
on staint stephens day was caught in the furze
up with the kettle and down with the pan
give us some money to bury the wren’

if I yield to their catch O what will they do
can they kill me and remain blind to virtue
I call to the ground and my God in the sky
witness my death yet forgive them thereby

and rain on my funeral O God in the sky
please make it a mess, don’t let them get by
with hunting and killing for Your Name sake
open their eyes that they see their mistake

take them back to remember years ago on a tree
Your very Son suffered and died even for me
for all of creation does groan with the weight
for the curse to be lifted when Your Kingdom dilates

then the wrenboys and I can at last end our feud
and sit down in laughter to lighten the mood
at Your great wedding feast for many to attend
the wren and the mummers at last to be friends