PANTHERA'S SON

(According to ancient Jewish tradition Jesus'
father was neither the Holy Ghost nor Joseph
the Carpenter, but Panthera, a Roman soldier)

Remember Jesus, whom we used to mock
When we were kids in Nazareth, the one
That everybody called Panthera's son?
On Passover I got a dreadful shock

Because of him, something I've tried to block
Out of my mind, but what is done is done.
Commanded by an old centurion
(You know the kind, they seem as hard as rock),

Soldiers took Jesus to be crucified
For having claimed to be the son of God.
We Nazarenes know better, so I cried:

"Panthera's son!" Then something very odd
Happened: the old man groaned, as though a rod
Had struck him: "O my child!" Next day he died.