The women (Mary Magdelene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome) turned and fled from the tomb, seized with trembling and bewilderment. They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
– Gospel of Mark 16:9
As they ran their hands shook, oil sloshed
from jars and spice from fingers, and shadows
cast fled before them, cast by the angel, they seemed
like all the shadows -- and their teeth chattered,
and birds swooped down for seeds, sparrows
and finches and graveyard mice bright-eyed
and wild. And the path was rocky and Salome
ripped one sandal and her blood scattered
and sprang up in great branches, olive and mrytle,
dogwood in white blossom till the whole hill was veiled
for a wedding. And the oil blessed the stones
and called a river: a trickle, then braided runnels
like the inside of a wrist, and then
the mouth of the tomb became
the womb of rain.
