"Christ and the Good Thief" by TitianTwo Poems for Good Friday, by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society April 18, 2025 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 12 Comments . Crucified She pondered horrors of the modern age. He thumbed through piles of dusty history tomes. She craved the timeless wisdom of a sage. He chewed on clues and mused like Sherlock Holmes. He scrutinized the motives in Ukraine. She grappled with the rabble on the jab. She mapped the track of every gravy train. He sniffed out bombshells in a bio lab. He floated with the ghosts of eons past. She stumbled through the dark to find the light. They battled through the bombast and the blast Of bluster from the wrong held up as right. She scorned the claim that sex could ever shift— Its code is writ in strands of DNA. He damned the grants that steered the dons adrift— The cons of fickle tongue know facts don’t pay. They sought. They found. They outed lying swine— Apocalyptic howls were puffs of air. He spurned the wild and witless party line. She warned the devil’s lair was lined with care. She wouldn’t kiss the tarnished papal ring. He leaked the trick beneath the lick of gloss. They liberated truth. They let it sing. Rats spat on it and nailed it to a cross. When truth is crucified and left for dead Its might will rise, shine twice as bright… and spread. . . Dismas He knew, past present pain, a kingdom shone— The hallowed lips of Truth had told him so. The gift of paradise sprung from a tongue That taught him all a harrowed heart need know. . . Susan Jarvis Bryant is a poet originally from the U.K., now living on the Gulf Coast of Texas. NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. ***Read Our Comments Policy Here*** 12 Responses Peter Venable April 18, 2025 Good for the diversity of themes and worldviews. The final couplet says it all. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant April 18, 2025 Thank you very much, Peter. I very much hope this poem is “good for the diversity of themes and worldviews” and that the universal truth serves to unite us in divided times. Reply Mark Stellinga April 18, 2025 This wonderful piece fortifies my optimism, Susan. The final couplet lifts my heart as well. Thanks for another powerfully motivating piece. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant April 18, 2025 Mark, thank you very much for your encouraging comment. I am thrilled you found the poem optimistic and motivating. I believe scientific truth, philosophical truth, moral truth, and spiritual truth all find their coherence in The Truth. Jesus doesn’t cancel universal truth – He completes and fulfills it. A very happy Easter to you! Reply Jeremiah Johnson April 18, 2025 “Dismas” – Beautifully boiled down to the essence of the encounter. Love that line “taught him all a harrowed heart need know.” All of our hearts are harrowed and in need of Christ’s message to Dismas on the cross (whether we’ve reflected on them many times, or whether it’s the first time). I’m going to take this one and ponder it throughout the day! Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant April 18, 2025 Jeremiah, you have made my morning! This is my favorite of the two poems – a gift that came to me in a flash and says everything within the lines and between them. I am over the moon you picked up on this. Thank you most kindly! Reply Martin Rizley April 18, 2025 Susan, As the central point of a diamond, though tiny, shines brightly with concentrated light, your little quatrain “Dismas”, though brief, shines brightly with the light of grace and truth that flowed from Jesus´ lips to the dying thief, bringing solace to his and to countless other “harrowed hearts” since then. Thank you for sharing this. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant April 18, 2025 Thank you very much for your beautiful words on my favorite of the two poems, Martin. Sometimes less really is more, and this brief moment of glory sings loudly, clearly and universally to ALL harrowed hearts. Please know, I wrote my first poem as a nod to the universal truth in a world that thrives on lies. The universal truth is God’s truth and it’s being crushed and canceled in ways I’ve never experienced. I simply had to write it. Reply Martin Rizley April 18, 2025 I have been encouraged of late by recent signs that certain truths which have been mercilessly crucified by the “woke” left are indeed rising again, and the tide is turning on the strident progressive agenda that has been foisted on the West by out of control courts and corrupt politicians. Case in point: the recent ruling by the UK’s highest Supreme Court boldly affirms that biological men are not women. Thus, they have no inherent right to compete in women’s sports based on a subjective sense of “felt” gender identity. That is a major turning point with massive implications. It goes to show that a society can only “kick against the goads” so long before its foot starts bleeding and reality kicks back– with a vengeance. Truth crucified must and will rise, as your first poem eloquently affirms. Joseph S. Salemi April 18, 2025 These are expertly crafted poems, Susan — the first in an expansive mode, the second in a clipped, almost cryptic mode. About Dismas: he was a thief or robber, and maybe even a terrorist. The likelihood that he was conventionally “religious” is very slim, and the notion that he was sacramentally baptized in the faith is absurd, although some late pious legends claim it. And yet the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity personally guaranteed him that he would be in Paradise. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant April 18, 2025 Joe, thank you for your appreciation and for your wise eye. Your spot on observations are exactly why I burned to write about Dismas. I didn’t flesh him out in words because I wanted the focus to be where it should be – always, but especially at this time of year. Reply Mike Bryant April 18, 2025 I love the “Dismas” poem and want to say more about it, but “Crucified” really got my attention. It reminds me of the way many psalms express suffering, and injustices before turning to hope and vindication. The Truth can never be kept down. Now, “Dismas” came as a result of a conversation that we had a couple of days before you wrote it. I mentioned that the story might make a great poem… you agreed. I was imagining some ode or maybe a sonnet… and then we both got on with other things. I was surprised that maybe a week ago, you woke up and said, “I just wrote that poem. I just woke up and I had the whole poem in mind.” You wrote it down in, what, ten or fifteen minutes. It’s such a short poem, but it says everything. It’s just wonderful. You ROCK! Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Peter Venable April 18, 2025 Good for the diversity of themes and worldviews. The final couplet says it all. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant April 18, 2025 Thank you very much, Peter. I very much hope this poem is “good for the diversity of themes and worldviews” and that the universal truth serves to unite us in divided times. Reply
Mark Stellinga April 18, 2025 This wonderful piece fortifies my optimism, Susan. The final couplet lifts my heart as well. Thanks for another powerfully motivating piece. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant April 18, 2025 Mark, thank you very much for your encouraging comment. I am thrilled you found the poem optimistic and motivating. I believe scientific truth, philosophical truth, moral truth, and spiritual truth all find their coherence in The Truth. Jesus doesn’t cancel universal truth – He completes and fulfills it. A very happy Easter to you! Reply
Jeremiah Johnson April 18, 2025 “Dismas” – Beautifully boiled down to the essence of the encounter. Love that line “taught him all a harrowed heart need know.” All of our hearts are harrowed and in need of Christ’s message to Dismas on the cross (whether we’ve reflected on them many times, or whether it’s the first time). I’m going to take this one and ponder it throughout the day! Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant April 18, 2025 Jeremiah, you have made my morning! This is my favorite of the two poems – a gift that came to me in a flash and says everything within the lines and between them. I am over the moon you picked up on this. Thank you most kindly! Reply
Martin Rizley April 18, 2025 Susan, As the central point of a diamond, though tiny, shines brightly with concentrated light, your little quatrain “Dismas”, though brief, shines brightly with the light of grace and truth that flowed from Jesus´ lips to the dying thief, bringing solace to his and to countless other “harrowed hearts” since then. Thank you for sharing this. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant April 18, 2025 Thank you very much for your beautiful words on my favorite of the two poems, Martin. Sometimes less really is more, and this brief moment of glory sings loudly, clearly and universally to ALL harrowed hearts. Please know, I wrote my first poem as a nod to the universal truth in a world that thrives on lies. The universal truth is God’s truth and it’s being crushed and canceled in ways I’ve never experienced. I simply had to write it. Reply
Martin Rizley April 18, 2025 I have been encouraged of late by recent signs that certain truths which have been mercilessly crucified by the “woke” left are indeed rising again, and the tide is turning on the strident progressive agenda that has been foisted on the West by out of control courts and corrupt politicians. Case in point: the recent ruling by the UK’s highest Supreme Court boldly affirms that biological men are not women. Thus, they have no inherent right to compete in women’s sports based on a subjective sense of “felt” gender identity. That is a major turning point with massive implications. It goes to show that a society can only “kick against the goads” so long before its foot starts bleeding and reality kicks back– with a vengeance. Truth crucified must and will rise, as your first poem eloquently affirms.
Joseph S. Salemi April 18, 2025 These are expertly crafted poems, Susan — the first in an expansive mode, the second in a clipped, almost cryptic mode. About Dismas: he was a thief or robber, and maybe even a terrorist. The likelihood that he was conventionally “religious” is very slim, and the notion that he was sacramentally baptized in the faith is absurd, although some late pious legends claim it. And yet the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity personally guaranteed him that he would be in Paradise. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant April 18, 2025 Joe, thank you for your appreciation and for your wise eye. Your spot on observations are exactly why I burned to write about Dismas. I didn’t flesh him out in words because I wanted the focus to be where it should be – always, but especially at this time of year. Reply
Mike Bryant April 18, 2025 I love the “Dismas” poem and want to say more about it, but “Crucified” really got my attention. It reminds me of the way many psalms express suffering, and injustices before turning to hope and vindication. The Truth can never be kept down. Now, “Dismas” came as a result of a conversation that we had a couple of days before you wrote it. I mentioned that the story might make a great poem… you agreed. I was imagining some ode or maybe a sonnet… and then we both got on with other things. I was surprised that maybe a week ago, you woke up and said, “I just wrote that poem. I just woke up and I had the whole poem in mind.” You wrote it down in, what, ten or fifteen minutes. It’s such a short poem, but it says everything. It’s just wonderful. You ROCK! Reply
