Category Archives: Poetry

no water from rock

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when miriam died and the well
ran dry and israel’s arid soul
surged forth like sand in a
desert storm
moses tore open his robe
picked up his staff
and struck the rock over and
over and over there he remains
to this very day
sometimes when he dreams he
sees the face of god smiling in the rock
as it shatters into millions of
tiny shards but for now he’s still
flailing away at the hard stone
surface blinking away dry tears while the
the people howl at him in white hot
rage why did you make us leave egypt
to bring us to this wretched place
why there isn’t even
any water for us
to drink

(Numbers 20:1-11)

scouts report reimagined

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joshua and caleb said the land
lays bare before us let us go in let us
possess it by force let its inhabitants
become our prey the
remaining scouts said no as soon
as we attack this land it will most
surely devour us have faith
in god do not fear
this country and its people
when the israelites gathered up
their weapons and raised
a battle cry god said
to moses listen can you hear
that doesn’t it sound like the song
of the enslaved the cry of
fear bequeathed to the
children the sound
of carrion slowly
rotting away in the
wilderness

(Numbers 13:27-33, 14:1-12, 26-35)

miriam dreamed

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painting by Alimobin Memon

miriam sat curled
knees up head down
eyes shut tight against
the jeers hey snow white if you
were my daughter i’d spit right in your
face
miriam slept
she dreamed the cushite
woman was finally set free she
dreamed that moses prayed
desperately for her healing she
dreamed god’s face had been gazing
at her all along when she
awoke she was told to return to the
camp before they set out she named it
hazerot which means
yes i am a prophet
too

(Numbers 12)

azazel danced

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The Deopokhari festival in Nepal is held to appease what locals believe is a demon that resides in a pond. Every year, goats and other animals are sacrificed to the pond demon so that no human lives will be lost to drowning. (Photo: Niranjan Shrestha / AP)

azazel danced down the edge of
the rocky slope when the
animal finally appeared in
the distance looking up he saw empty confessions
dissolving like beads of water on a
hot desert floor marveling at the desperate
neverending thirst for expiation how wonderful to
let a poor beast die for your sins how delectably
deliciously marvelous he reached the
bottom of the dry riverbed skipping gleefully in
anticipation he ran to greet the offering so
ravenous he didn’t bother to glance
behind at the dessicated goat
carcasses lying in heaps on the
floor of the
valley

(Leviticus 16:6-10)

deeper than skin

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if your affliction has gone deeper than
the surface of your skin if it has entered into
your bloodstream if it has broken through the
floodgates guarding the shadows of
your innermost self infecting your
being with the rawest truth of your life
and death you must venture beyond the limits
of your encampment to the outskirts of the
wilderness
examine yourself thoroughly note every mark
every blemish every dead patch of skin every
microscopic pathogen that feeds
off your dissolution
when this checkup is complete you
will be ready to return to the
land of the
living

(Leviticus 13:1-23)

nadav and avihu post mortem

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his son’s bodies still smoldering next to the altar
they came and said to aaron
this is what happens when you play with strange fire
this is what happens when you’re too cautious
this is what happens when you don’t read the instructions
this is what happens when you’re too scared to improvise
this is what happens when you look into the light
this is what happens when you walk on the dark side
this is what happens when you attempt to escape
this is what happens when you remain in the ghetto
this is what happens when you believe the kindness of strangers
this is what happens when you fear the other
this is what happens when you resist
this is what happens when you go like sheep
to the slaughter

(Leviticus 10:1-3)