KARAGIN RUFF

There’s a bar in Jerusalem with a
door agape as the mouth of Satan, where
Jesus and Judas sit thigh to thigh. One
orders bourbon, and one orders wine. A
jukebox hymn plays in their covet silence.
With upturned palms, Jesus sweats the question;
how does one begin to resurrect what
hasn’t died? Judas cups Jesus’s worried
hands, “Whatever it is, we’ll be alright.”
The headlights through the window crown Jesus
in a jagged branching light. He is the
future king of killing darlings, this is
his coronation night. “I need you to
betray me?” Jesus begs, his lips stained by
grape blood. Judas asks, “Why?” Jesus chokes the
answer, “If your hand stumbles, cut it off.
If your lips tremble kiss to condemn.” His
eyes make a cross of the table, carving
out Judas’s embrace. “No apple taste as
good as your lips. Heaven’s truths hold nothing
to your lies, but I was a son before
I was a man, and you’re what stands between
me and God, so I’m asking you to step
aside.” Judas downs his glass, tasting the
bitter honey goodbye. “And would we meet
again in the place where the sun only
rises?” Jesus doesn’t lift his head. “You’ll
be prince of a different kingdom, but
I’ll build us a bridge. We’ll sit side by side.
We’ll throw our crowns atop the frozen lake….”
As Jesus marched on, Judas wished they could 
be nailed to the night as new stars or a
neon bar sign, their souls dancing in the
same fires. His carpenter companion had
built his hopes too high. No construction could
mend a religion. Still Judas smiled, “If
we’ll be closer in hell than we could be
in heaven I’ll suffer any torment.”
Only the glasses wept on the table
when the men lynched their bodies from the booth.
At dawn, Judas gave zealots their fable.
One kiss which condemns two. As Lucifer’s
new cavity, Judas raises a glass
in the monster’s teeth, “Here’s to a happy hell.”

KARAGIN RUFF is a poet and fiction writer from Council Bluffs, Iowa. She graduated from DePaul University with a BA in English Creative Writing. Karagin Ruff is currently serving as an SCI Americorps Fellow in East Boston.