here in the midst of it

A little Jay Hulme for Good Friday, don't you think? I love this one.

He's here in the midst of it -
right at the centre of the dance floor,
robes hitched up to His knees
to make it easy to spin.

At some point in the evening
a boy will touch the hem of His robe
and beg to be healed, beg to be
anything other than this;

and He will reach His arms out,
sweat-damp, and weary from dance.
He'll cup this boy's face in His hand
and say,

                my beautiful child
there is nothing in this heart of yours
that ever needs to be healed.

—Jay Hulme, "Jesus at the Gay Bar," from The Backwater Sermons (Canterbury Press, 2021). Jay Hulme has some great notes on this poem's theology on his website.