Pearls of Ignatius

By Bryant Burroughs

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“I carry my chains for Christ, which are to me spiritual pearls, more prized than all the treasures of the world.” 
          Ignatius, as he walked from Antioch to Rome to be martyred

My chains are my pearls
as I hasten to Rome like a bride         
stepping from her father’s house        
to her bridegroom’s side.            

Pearl-adorned, I trek toward one        
who thinks himself divine
and stamps his coins with pride: 
“the divine Trajan,” conceit upon conceit.        

"Choose!" he roared at me:
"Deny, and you will live.
Hold fast, and you will die.
My lions will silence you."

But will I not surely die 
whether I hold fast or deny?
How, then, could I betray
the One who also chose this Way?

Devour me, you lions!
Roar over my flesh and bones.
I am the wheat of God
sifted for his Bread!

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Bryant Burroughs is a writer and lives with his wife Ruth in Upstate South Carolina with their three cats. His work has appeared in online literary sites such as Agape Review, Clayjar Review, Pure in Heart Stories and Faith, Hope & Fiction.

Bryant's other work on Foreshadow:
The Widow Whose Son Lived (Fiction, July 2022)
The Youngest Day (Poetry, November 2022)
The Widow's Psalm (Poetry, February 2023)
The Leper and the Healer (Fiction, May 2023)