Hi Gary, this is wide ranging and so universal despite its tight theme that
underpins it. I look forward to the finished project.
BTW the last line worries me there seems to be a mix of tenses. I have tired
of the lies I've told or I tired of the lies I told ....one of these. Am I
right? Arthur.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary Blankenship" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2002 6:19 PM
Subject: Rebekah's Well
(This is part of a series I am writing with Ryfkah, a rewrite of Genesis
which alternates poems where I use Lilith as the protagonist with Ryfsis's
lyrical works. We went through the story to Abraham fairly easily, but I
bogged down at Rebekah at the well and haven't offered any since June.
Until now. Your comments, as always appreciated, and thank you in advance.
But be forewarned, the work does not stand entirely alone. The coffee shop
actually echoes back to the first of mine.)
Rebekah's Well
water
drawn from deep wells
to succor the servant's herd
twelve camels as God's test for the second son's bride
each bucket offered sweeter than the last
another test passed
a girl
young as Caesar's queen
chaste as Mother Mary
honest as Ruth in the fields
innocent as Eve before she knew pomegranates had seeds
clever as Lilith at the end
(I sit on another soggy day
in the back corner of a Manhattan coffee shop,
and I watch another of my daughters
make another mistake,
the same mistake made by every generation
since the first mud hut was raised in Nod.
And I tremble at the thought
that I may have to save another daughter
to advance my scheme,
to return to My rightful place at Our Throne.
*By the door, an account manager
works up courage to ask me if I am
or would like to join him or some other ridiculous question.
I chill his latte to a frosty.
He spits it on his suit, permanently stained.*
I tire of this story. God's plan and mine
diverged long before this universe revolved. We
count equal losses, but he controls the host
and I dare not, can not, contest them
and despair as I have not since the desert trek.
I am tired and wish for a new Beginning.
Another bomb explodes in Haifa and I am tired.)
the groom
second-born
resurrected sacrifice, uncircumcised
prisoner to God's promise
little more than a handsome footnote stuck between
Father Abraham and Father Israel
one son cursed
without the sin of Cain or even Ham committed
marriage
in his mother's tent
water from his father's well their sustenance
God's pledge their only future
(I tired of the lies I've told.)
Dec Byron Sacre at: http://gardawg.homestead.com/gardawg.html... Writer's
Hood at http://www.writershood.com/... Poets for Peace.... ˇPoemas sí, balas
no!
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