Judas Walked Slower

Judas walked slower
than the other apostles
when they went on promenades.
The billowing, brier-overgrown countryside-
breathtaking, humbling
in the fevered sun
to everyone else,
and Jesus' winding-down commentary-
was to him inferno.
Every footstep he places down
sent thin streams of fire up his legs.
Andrew had taken it upon himself
to lag behind, and make sure he was alright-
to be kind to him
when everyone else's mind
was somewhere else eintirely.
"Are you alright?" he asked him.
"Yes, I'm fine."