The Retelling
by allisonkujiraoka
The retelling
is past action
in present memory alive
wrestled into storylines
where contradictions arise
and details fall by the wayside.
Who got to the empty tomb faster,
and does it matter?
A raconteur
with garbled grammar,
an unreliable narrator:
One actor’s agency
in passive voice hidden
Another’s role dismissed
a purposeful elision
Tricked out verbiage
for entertainment value
A protagonist crowned
for their winning point of view
Whispers down the lane
of the hearers’ prejudice
Formatted to receive
and interpret juicy bits.
Do enemies multiply,
does the bad guy win?
Is there redemption,
forgiveness of sin?
Who is the scapegoat,
who is the fool?
What would you give
for a thread to unspool?