Frank Horne, "On Seeing Two Brown Boys in a Catholic Church" (1927)
A CATHOLIC CHURCH
It is fitting that you be here
Little brown boys
With Christ-like eyes
And curling hair.
Look you on yon crucifix
Where He hangs nailed and pierced
With head hung low
And eyes a'blind with blood that drips
From a thorny crown ...
Look you well,
You shall know this thing.
Judas' kiss will burn your cheek
And you shall be denied
By your Peter
And Gethsemane ....
You shall know full well
Gethsemane ...
You, too, will suffer under Pontius Pilate
And feel the rugged cut of rough hewn cross
Upon your surging shoulder-
They will spit in your face
And laugh ...
They will nail you up twixt thieves
And gamble for your little garments.
And in this you will exceed God
For on this earth
You shall know Hell-
O little brown boys
With Christ-like eyes
And curling hair
It is fitting that you be here.
Published in Caroling Dusk, 1927