From The Grand Miracle by Mary Karr:
Jesus wound up with his body nailed to a tree—
a torment he practically begged for,
or at least did nothing to stop. Pilate
watched the crowd go thumbs down
and weary, signed the order.
So centurions laid Jesus flat
on a long beam, arms run along the crosspiece.
In each palm a long spike was centered,
a stone chosen to drive it. (Skin
tears; the bones start to split.)
Once the cross got propped up,
the body hung heavy, a carcass—
in carne, the Latin poets say, in meat. …