The Child 7

7
The pilgrims are afraid.
The woman begins to cry, the men in an agony of wretchedness shout at them
  to stop.
Dogs break out barking and are cruelly whipped into silence broken by
  moans.
The night seems endless and men and women begin to wrangle as to who
  among them was to blame.
They shriek and shout and as they are ready to unsheathe their knives the
  darkness pales, the morning light overflows the mountain tops.
Suddenly they become still and gasp for breath as they gaze at the figure
  lying dead.
The women sob out loud and men hide their faces in their hands.
A few try to slink away unnoticed, but their crime keeps them chained to their
  victim.
They ask each other in bewilderment, ‘Who will show us the path?’
The old man from the East bends his head and says: ‘The Victim.’
They sit still and silent.
Again speaks the old man, ‘We refused him in doubt, we killed him in anger,
  now we shall accept him in love, for in his death he lives in the life of us all,
  the great Victim.’
And they all stand up and mingle their voices and sing, ‘Victory to the
  Victim.’