Requisition

I want more details about the fish.
Jesus, in his resurrection body,
cooks an impromptu breakfast.
I assume they are not red herrings.
They are probably sardines
(the Sea of Galilee is full of them)
or barbels or musht. They were not
eels or prawns, let us establish that.
Are they lying on a bed of coals,
or impaled on wood for masgûf?
“Big fish” (presumably not sardines),
153 of them, are pulled up on the shore.
I want more details about the body,
this flesh and bone, how it digests these fish
now we've dispensed with blood –
having made it through Leviticus
(and all those livers) and past the crucifixion.
Not getting what I want, it must be possible,
permissible, to rake over their remains,
find a suitable bone for a needle,
run a thread from Genesis to Revelation
through its eye. Lord. Should I draw blood.

(First published in Psaltery & Lyre, 14 January 2019)