When Jesus came
among the Jews, his
radiant new Commandment
held before him like
a living pearl,
I wonder, did he pause
to pity the Levites?

Did he stand apart
from the bustle of
the Temple, and feel
his own arrival in clean
silence, still, and
still unknown?

Did Jesus, when he came
among the Jews,
understand the ties
of tribal inheritance,
the implicit and assumed?

Did he remain apart,
awkward and unnoticed,
full of the future?  What
did he feel for the people,
the People, Jesus,
when he came among
the Jews?