Seamus Heaney wrote this poem after he’d had a stroke and found himself being carried by his friends. That’s why he particularly highlights the friends of the paralytic in the biblical miracle of Christ, who removed roof tiles to let him down in the middle of the crowd inside the house, and thereby played a part in the healing that Christ’s accomplishes. The story is in Matthew 9:1-8, which is today’s Gospel reading in the Orthodox Church.

MIRACLE

Not the one who takes up his bed and walks
But the ones who have known him all along
And carry him in –

Their shoulders numb, the ache and stoop deeplocked
In their backs, the stretcher handles
Slippery with sweat. And no let up

Until he’s strapped on tight, made tiltable
and raised to the tiled roof, then lowered for healing.
Be mindful of them as they stand and wait

For the burn of the paid out ropes to cool,
Their slight lightheadedness and incredulity
To pass, those who had known him all along.

-Seamus Heaney