Light on Damascus Road

Mural Painting and Poem by Dr Abe V Rotor

Saul falls from his horse on the road to Damascus

The sky wakes up with the tempest,
Lighting the rocks which barred his way,
Dwarfing the boldest Roman conquest
On a lonely road far, far away.

“Saul, Saul,” comes a voice divine, pleading,
There’s no one yet he feels of Someone;
His legion is now beyond hearing,
Kneels this great warrior and nobleman.

“Why do you persecute me?” He’s mute.
From the clouds a beam of light comes out.
Rising, he is face to face with truth,
His heart bleeding, his light dies out.
 

He waits the fangs of abyssal depth
That bestows the hopeless false kindness
Relief and escape of those near death;
But Saul weathered the test of darkness.
 

A full turnabout from Saul to Paul,
Renouncing fame whatever the cost,
Protector is he, light of lost soul, 
To die for Christ, a true martyr’s cause. 
 

The book and sword of this apostle,
Today’s a symbol at the Gentiles’ gate,
Where lay inner peace far from hustle,
That lights man’s way to a blessed fate.~

Mural Painting (8ft x 8ft), St. Paul University QC Museum, 1995