Sometimes soldiers
get up to high jinx,
playing all sorts of pranks.
Dolores encountered this
during the Troubles.
She woke one morning
to find that her favourite,
massive, hand-painted
garden gnome
had disappeared during the night
during a routine army patrol
by armed soldiers.
Later that day
Dolores squared up
to a tall, grey-haired army major
who listened apologetically
while Dolores gave him
a dressing down.
Embarrassed soldiers then returned
the garden gnome
from their Land Rover
where he had been safely installed
as their mascot.
A bit of high jinx –
no harm done.
During Lent
I find myself remembering this incident
as I contemplate
the Passion of Jesus.
Soldiers in the Roman army
amused themselves
by humiliating Jesus –
dressing Him up
in regal clothes
and crowning Him
with thorns
as they mocked Him.
Sometimes I wonder
about those soldiers.
Did they just get
carried away
and later regret their actions?
Did the memory of it
keep them awake at night?
Or did they look back fondly,
believing it to be nothing more
than a wee bit of high jinx
that didn’t really do any harm?
© Claire Murray, 24th March 2022