Judas
I did not want to do it, no pleasure,
In killing that madman’s vain talk of peace,
I did not do it for passing pleasure,
I just wanted to make Rome’s tyranny cease.
We need power. I came to him in hope,
That he could give old Israel new birth,
I wanted easy answers, could not cope,
With his promised Kingdom’s unearthly worth.
He would not lead a Kingdom like this world,
Nor know that we must live by might alone,
I went to sell him, buy a better world,
For a slave’s price – let foolish Peter groan.
But now a greater anguish burns unhealed,
And I yearn to die in this potter’s field.
Christopher Villiers
The Rhymester's Revels 