Somewhere in an old book,
edges frayed and stale like bread
A woman shuffles bare feet
raked through rocks ground into pebbles
over a thousand years.
"Don't look back" angels command
to the cities of the plains
nuzzled by the Jordan river
(which could have been the Garden of Eden
if not for the venality
of sex and taxes).
"Don't look back" her husband commands
but her instinct...
a little girl and her curiosity-
a woman and her intuition-
a mother and her compassion-
...
"Don't look back."
But the woman who confronts angles
and their decrees
who, known only for her refusal
and disobedience,
is not even extended the courtesy of a name
to admonish.
After all,
is it not the gift of a woman
-a measure of her spirit-
to look back?
To reach out for the child, abandoned,
like spilt table salt?
I love the line
ReplyDelete"which could have been the Garden of Eden
if not for the venality
of sex and taxes."
It's so...gutting.
so, now that I'm getting more serious its time to revise. I don't like to revise. I like to keep moving forward. Here is some other info. Things I still would like to incorporate is Lot (the name of the husband) and maybe even the specific bible verse? Genesis 19:26. She gets one line. One line. ugh. I wont go into my rant here. It's supposed to be in the poem. :) But this will save me a search next time.
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