The Real Lady

The Real Lady

I would love to call 

Mary Magdalene 

and ask her to lunch

to discuss what it was like back then

to know Jesus

to know redemption

to be a woman of earthen means

naked to the lust

of those same sketchy gentlemen

who judged her

Wondering why she is at the foot of the cross

praying

And they all gossip as to how she feels

shameless enough to do that

they use her 

then discuss her like she is a vacant soul

and yet

Jesus looks across to her, not down

his hanging on the cross is for her redemption

as much as it is for those who profess being

Christians

and then find the most hypocritical vices to live

lies

dishonest derelicts who should be hanged

next to Jesus

with the two thieves

Mary would be a great conservationist, I think

she would probably even offer

to pay for the meal

I wonder if she was invited to the Last Supper

but felt she would be out of place

and perhaps

being the most human, the most real of them all---

she have been.

erin-cilberto

9/26/25

Reviews

[Desert Knave]

I imagine today she'd be called a radical leftist and deported to a foreign prison, but maybe that's my cynicism which has been boiling over for awhile now. Anyhow, I really like the viewpoint of her you espoused here. Kudos. ~Jim

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Mine has been boiling over right along with you.

[Pete]

wow. talk about telling it like it is. it's too bad there's no breathalyzers for faith and truth- we'd all be doing time for dui. top-notch thoughts j.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I will see you behind bars, Pete.
Do you think they will let us bring our own lunch?
Thank you for your comment.
j.

[Pete]

... i highly doubt it - they'd strip search us and take what remained of our souls (concealed weapons) ...

[Ms claws]

Hi J., I am fascinated at the idea of what inspired you as much as the write itself.
At 5 years old, I was saved in a Nazarene church.
Since then, I have been to the highest highs as well as to the lowest lows.
Even a thought can be a sin. God does not co-exist with sin. Period.
That's why he came to Earth in the earthly form of His Son, Jesus, to give us a simple route to Him
even though He had to shed His Holy Blood in sacrifice.
You were inspired by God to write this. It brings the entire Plan of Salvation into
the light.
No matter how perfect or imperfect we are, God loves us all the same and actually died for us to inherit eternal life by only believing He forgives if we ask.
Thank you.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I have always been a big fan of Mary Magdalene and her owning who she was no matter what the consequences or chatter.
And those who down her, they aren't worth a salt...and most are just hypocrites...I think she should have had a seat at that table.
Thank you for your words, Infinite Hart.
j.

[Ms claws]

Honored to critique you, J.

[RomaJ]

J, I reviewed your poem on StarsRite but I'll just post it here too haha. I love this write. It is thought-provoking and profound:

Mary Magdalene has always felt to me like Jesus, most loyal follower. Even if she wasn’t at the Last Supper, I can imagine her being the one who set the table and prepared the meal. She feels like an everywoman – someone who carries the judgment and misunderstanding that so many women have faced, whether for past mistakes, perceived flaws, or simply for not fitting society’s expectations.

I don’t believe she was a prostitute. I think she was a strong, capable woman who may have simply been ahead of her time. People judged her and labeled her unfairly, but Jesus saw her for who she truly was – a good and faithful person. And really, that’s what all of us should strive to be. Great write, j

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I agree with you....I think she was unfairly labeled...and even if she were, It is not others' place to judge her. People can be so high and mighty, and it just burns my butt when they are.
thank you for your words, RomaJ.
and for leaving comments in both places.
j.

[Lorry]

Am I the only one hearing the holy rollers clacking their rosary beads saying she certainly isn't the messiah, just a very naughty girl?
If you believe of course the rosary bead clackers opinions of her, written about four hundred years after the event, so im led to believe, which does handily give her too much time to pass to deny her very dubious sins.
Now God be with you. Say three our fathers and a hello dolly and go in peace! 😃

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, misjudged and unfairly at that, I am sure.
thanks, Lorry.
j.

[redzone]

This is a difficult poem for me to comment on, not because it isn't good, or poorly written. On the contrary, I felt what I perceived, an exposure of hypocrisy among supposedly moral people. Mary Magdalene committed no crime or sin (actually, sin is a misnomer, an excuse to look down on half of humanity). But if she did commit a crime, it was two fold. One, and the most important one, was that she was a woman. A woman, who allowed herself to be used for sex. A situation most women found themselves in (an even today for some), except for exemptions to the rules of society back then, being married and servants of a husband was the "role, place" for women.

Here is the difficulty, I do not wish to offend, but here is one reason (the treatment of women and sexual relations from the "word of god") why there is NO GOD and all this ugliness toward women is an invention of men. And why I am no christian, or have any other religious beliefs. And it seems to me that you want or need to hold on to the idea that somehow or someway, Jesus was a hero, a moral compass. Why was it that Mary was NOT invited to the supper?? He could have done so. But, I think you did really get to the heart of things by saying, "(Mary Magdalene) being the most human, the most real of them all..." Thank you Jacob for that line. It spoke volumes, at least for me.

-Curt

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for all of this, Curt. Your review and thoughts are much appreciated.
I write to spawn reactions from the reader. And you certainly did that.

[Chris Shaw]

If only more Christians practiced what Jesus preached. Reminds me why I stopped going to church as a 14 year old. There were those in the congregation who should have taken a leaf out of his book. As to Mary, some unkind things have been written about her. I look on her as a disciple of Christ. If she sinned, then he would have forgiven her. An interesting write. I think lunch with her would be fascinating j. I’d like to know more about Jesus too.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I look at her as that also, Chris.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts,
j.

[John the Baptist]

I have read that Mary of Magdala was not a hooker, but just one of the female followers of Jesus of Nazareth who helped pick up the tab for him and the disciples on their travels. The characterization of her as a prostitute seems to have originated with one of the Popes, for what reason I don't recall. At any rate, if she were living today, she might lawyer up and become another of the Vatican's sexual cases.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

My thought is that she was just a follower...even back then people gossiped fluently.
thank you, John.
j.