Michael Angelo’s masterpiece immortalises the profound bond between Jesus Christ and his mother, capturing the power of maternal love amidst sorrow and sacrificial love in this poignant poem by Sanjukta, exclusively for Different Truths.

The death-spitting nails
Hammered into the flesh
Blood dripping like red rain
Gory gashes in the nailed arms
Nailed bleeding feet
The Crown of Thorns
Trickling a red flow
Jesus Christ lifeless in the embrace
Of the most endearing, gentle arms
 
Reposing in the nurturing lap
A timeless Carrara marble
Signed by Michael Angelo
Sculpted mother and child
Frozen forever in a togetherness
Alive forever as a signature
Of maternal bonding
A son bleeding to death
In the arms of his mother.

Picture design by Anumita Roy

Dr Sanjukta Dasgupta

Dr Sanjukta Dasgupta is a poet, short story writer, critic, and translator. She was a General Council of Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, member and the Convenor English Advisory Board Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. She is the President of the Intercultural Poetry and Performance Library, Kolkata and has twenty-six published books. Her poems have been translated into German, Serbian, Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, Kashmiri, and Tamil.