GENESIS CHAPTER 16 ~ 20

GENESIS 16

1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne
Him no children. And she, forlorn,
Had an Egyptian maid whose name
Was Hagar. 2 So Sarai, for shame,
Said to Abram, "See now, YHWH has
Restrained me from bearing, whereas
This maid, go in and marry her,
Maybe I'll get one by transfer.”
And Abram did as Sarai said.
3 And then Sarai, Abram's wife, led
Out Hagar who had been her maid,
Egyptian maid, and gave her to
Her husband Abram to be wife,
After Abram ten years of life
Had spent in Canaan in virtue.

Beloved, think once more now about the one
You gave that Abraham might have a son.
Did You remember then to ask if she
Was really willing, in her state, to be
A second wife, one taken for excuse
The first one had no more need for abuse?
Ah, Hagar's lot! Was fame enough reward
To heal the wound made in her heart by sword
Of circumstance? I think not, I think not.
Was son enough, the rampant one she got?
Perhaps, perhaps, but still the wound was sore
And tears were shed a-plenty there before
He was a man. Beloved, I wonder whether
You thought about her and her son together.

4 So he went in to Hagar, and
She conceived. When she saw first-hand
That she'd conceived, she looked down on
Her mistress. 5 Then Sarai anon
Said to Abram, "My wrong be on
You! I gave my maid to embrace,
And when she saw she had conceived,
I was despised before her face.
YHWH judge were you or I deceived."

I am not now astonished that the wife,
New taken from her servant's state and life,
Is dazzled with a husband rich and kind.
There's no surprise that each one changed her mind.
I only wonder Sarah ever thought
She would be satisfied when Hagar got
A place in Abram's bed, and arms and heart.
Did she think Hagar'd play a humble part?
How could she be so slow to understand
Her jealousy before 't was out of hand?
It may be stupid to agree to take
A second wife, it may be dumb to make
A married man one's choice, but surely no
Mistake is greater than this Sarah's show.

6 So Abram said to Sarai, "Your
Maid's in your hand, do as you please."
And when Sarai was harsh, for sure
She fled away not to appease.
7 The Angel of YHWH found her by
A desert spring of water nigh
The road to Shur. 8 He said to her,
"Hagar, you Sarai's maid, where were
You coming from and where are you
Now going?" She said "To tell you
The truth I'm fleeing from Sarai
My mistress." 9 The Angel of YHWH
Said to her, "Return by and by
To your mistress, and there must you
Submit yourself under her hand."
10 After YHWH's Angel gave command
He then said to her, "I indeed
Shall greatly multiply your seed,
So none can count them for their number."
11 The Angel of YHWH not to slumber
Said to her, "Indeed, you're with child,
And you shall bear a son whose name
Is Ishmael, since YHWH heard your claim.
12 He shall be like a donkey wild,
Whose hand's against all other men
And all against him too again.
And he shall live in the presence
Of all his brothers with good sense."

I walk, Beloved, the semi-arid strand
Of Cyprus, where the turtles come to land.
The little hills look down and smile to see
The wild ass running there as shy and free
As new from Your creating hand and voice.
Of animals the wild ass is my choice.
None of creation is so fine and wise,
With arching neck, high hoof and flashing eyes,
Its mane a standing brush defying sun
And star and moon. I watch the wild ass run.
Beloved, let no wild ass be caught by rope
Or fence, Beloved, be the wild ass's hope.
Do You not love the wild ass too as I,
So much like You, almost a glimpse and cry?

13 And then she called the name of YHWH
Who spoke to her, You-Are-God-Who-
Sees, for she said "Have I also
Here seen Him who sees me?" 14 And so
The well's Beer Lahai Roi by name,
Between Kadesh and Bered came.

First prophetess since Eve, it seems is she
Who was a servant, second wife, to be
The mother of the prophet's eldest son,
To whom the angel spoke as if to one
Who bore the book of revelation then.
Indeed she did, within her womb were men
And women who should have the greatest honour.
The blessing of the first at last fell on her.
But not alone because she had a child,
A child of promises, and wise and wild,
Was she picked out to see the heavenly vision,
And bear the first child of the circumcision.
She saw Your glory, O Beloved, because
Of what she knew and hoped, and what she was.

15 So Hagar bore Abram a son,
And Abram named his son, the one
To whom Hagar gave birth, Ishmael.
16 Abram was eighty-six the while
Hagar bore Ishmael Abram's son.

GENESIS 17

1 When Abram was aged ninety-nine,
YHWH came to Abram and said fine,
"I'm El Shadai, Almighty God,
Walk by Me blameless on the sod.
2 "And I will make My covenant
Between Me and you, which is meant
I'll multiply you most greatly."
3 Then Abram fell on his face, see,
And Ælohim talked with him, saying
4 "As for Me, indeed, while you're praying,
My covenant's with you, and you
Shall be the ancestor in view
Of many nations. 5 "No more shall
Your name be Abram, so banal,
But Abraham, for I have made
You father of a grand parade.
6 "Fruitful indeed I shall make you,
And father of the nations, too."

Of all the kings that came from Abraham,
Some have been good, and as sure as I am
Of that, some have been wicked too. No sure
Thing comes from our biology. The pure
And fated both proceed and unabated.
The good lad and the kind, once he's instated
May just as well turn out an Ahab or
A Solomon. Importance lies not in
The pedigree but if the lad will sin.
The covenant with Abraham, though true
And bright will never guarantee that You
Accept the progeny. The fruitful nation,
Product of grief or joyful jubilation,
May side with either heavenly queen or whore.

7 "And I'll affirm My pact with you
And your descendants after you
Through all their generations, I
Shall be your God and also I
Shall be their God. 8 "Also I give
To you and your seed place to live,
The land where you have been a stranger
And all of Canaan for your own,
Forever where you've been a ranger,
And I shall be their God alone."
9 And Ælohim still spoke and said
To Abraham, "As for your thread,
You shall keep covenant with Me,
You and your seed eternally.
10 "This is My pact which you shall keep,
Between Me, you and your descendants
After you: all the males that peep,
Each child among you and dependants
Shall be one circumcised, 11 "and you
Shall be cut in your foreskins' flesh,
A sign of covenant with you.
12 "He who is eight days old and fresh
Among you shall be circumcised,
Each male child that you've realized,
Born in your house or bought with money,
From foreigner not patrimony.
13 "He who is born in your house and
He who's bought with your money stand
Both to be circumcised, and My
Pact in your flesh continues by.
14 "And the uncircumcised male child,
Whose foreskin's left to flesh gone wild,
That person shall be cut off from
His folk, pact broken, heathendom."

Well and indeed. To cut a pinch of skin
As symbol of the hopeful lack of sin,
Disarming strange advice and even worse,
Seems to neglect the daughter as a curse,
Unless the cutting of the son's a plague.
The whole thing strikes me now as somewhat vague.
Does anything in Decalogue require
Such action, does it anywhere inspire
The soul, devout, to private circumcision?
I do not doubt the devout, wise decision.
The sacrifice, if sacrifice it be,
Seems much too small to take it seriously.
I add to it, Beloved, myself and all,
Body and soul and hear, calf in the stall.

15 Ælohim spoke once more and said
To Abraham, "As for Sarai
Your wife, call her Sarah instead.
16 "And I will bless her, also I
Shall give you a son by her, then
I shall bless her, and among men
Nations and kings from her shall spread."

The way that Sarai acted from the first,
If I were You I would count her the worst,
And let another woman take the fame,
And let another lady earn her name.
If grace is Your heart's will, than Sarai shows
That grace is all Your great heart ever knows.
I would have long since sent the woman packing,
With machinations and complaint nerve-wracking.
That You still promise her a son is greater
As miracle than age was when to mate her.
If You bless Sarai, that is news indeed
To joy the heart of everyone in need.
If You keep promises to awful Sarai,
Then everyone has hope and can say "Dare I."

17 Then Abraham fell on his face
And laughed inside, and said in case,
"Shall I have children at my age?
And Sarah at ninety engage
To give birth?" 18 Abraham said to
Ælohim, "Let live before You
Ishmael!" 19 Then Ælohim replied
"Sarah your wife shall sure abide
And bear a son, and Isaac shall
Be his name before one and all,
And I will make My pact with him
For always and through bright and dim,
And with his seed come after him.
20 "And as for Ishmael, I have heard.
Indeed, I bless him by My word.
I make him fruitful, multiplied,
A mighty nation to abide,
Twelve princes shall his children be,
A nation mighty, great, and free.
21 "And with Isaac I'll make my pact,
Whom Sarah will bear in the act,
Within the year and faithfully."

I thank You, my Beloved, You heard the prayer
Of Abraham, who loves the son who's there.
Beyond his prayer You also bless the son
Who will appear before the day is done.
The human view is that a choice is made
Between the two, one only makes the grade.
The other must be left without a hope.
It's always so with cardinal and pope.
Divine view is that both sons are unique
And both receive the blessings that they seek.
Let me not stray where choices are in vain,
Let me not suffer artificial pain.
Give me the blessing of my prayer today,
And unexpected ones along the way.

With every fifty feet it seems the wealth
Of Arab culture scintillates in stealth,
And changes with kaleidoscopic speed
Across the jewelled mountains to take heed
To Beduin boys following their flocks.
The crystal patchwork turns to barren rocks.
I miss the variegated dress and frills,
Embroidered coins shining upon the hills,
I miss the handwork and the tinctured loom,
The thousand things that have since met their doom.
I would deprive the harassed Jew of no
Homeland nor place of refuge where to go,
But sicken at the loss of all things fair
That disappeared from Palestine in air.

22 Then He finished talking with him,
And Ælohim went up from him.
23 So Abraham took Ishmael and
Not just his son, but all who stand
Born in his house and all males bought
With money, all males to be sought
In Abraham's household and cut
The flesh of their foreskins for what
Ælohim said that day. 24 The age
Of Abraham was ninety-nine
When circumcised by God's design
In flesh of foreskin for a gauge.
25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen
When he was circumcised come clean.
26 That very same day Abraham
Was circumcised, and in one slam
Also Ishmael his son, 27 and all
The men of his household, both small
And great, born in his house or bought
From strangers at cost, not begot,
All these were circumcised from first
To last with him, both best and worst.

So still today the Muslim way to do
The circumcision is to wait a few
Years and perform the operation on
Each lad before his childhood is quite gone,
Like Ishmael rather than like Abraham
Or Isaac who was an eight-day-old lamb.
The law says follow Isaac, so the Jew
Is right, though Muslim statutes say so too.
I guess the Christian teller takes the cake.
He waits like Abraham for age to make
Him ripe for circumcision and when he
Approaches one hundred he will make free
To stand before the knife. It's never late
To obey You, Beloved, at any rate.

WEEK 4 GENESIS 18

1 Then Angel of YHWH came to him
By Mamre's oaks, in interim
As he sat in the noonday heat
By his tent door to rest his feet.
2 He raised his eyes and looked and there
Were three men standing in the glare,
And seeing them he ran to meet them,
And from his tent he stood to greet them,
And bowed himself down to the ground,
3 And said "My Lord, if I have found
Grace in Your sight, do not pass on
By Your servant. 4 "Let water drawn
Be brought, and wash your feet, and rest
Beneath the tree. 5 "I'll do my best
And bring a bit of bread and such
And you'll rejoice your hearts as much.
And after that you may pass by,
Come to your servant such as I."
They said to him, "Do as you say."
6 So Abraham went on his way
To Sarah in the tent to pray,
Saying "Quickly, make ready three
Measures of fine meal, avidly
Knead it and make cakes for the three."
7 And Abraham ran to the herd,
And took a tender calf and spurred
A young man to prepare it well.
8 So he took butter, milk, and calf,
Which was prepared by personnel,
And set before them both carafe
And plate and stood to serve the mate
Beneath the tree while the three ate.

Your angels met with hospitality
Beneath the terebinth rabbinically,
Or rather not, unless the meal was slow.
I rather think they ate there on the go,
Both meat and milk together at a meal.
Let them lie down and then see how they feel.
Blessed in Your name, Beloved, that food was good,
And slaughtered and prepared and served as should.
The reason divine law becomes so fine
Is just because, before one starts to dine,
One asks too many questions of the cup.
Your will and love are easy to fill up.
Who look for angels instead of new laws
Find visions and a meal instead of claws.

9 They said to him, "Where is your wife
Sarah?" So he said "By my life,
Here, in the tent." 10 Then he said "I
Will surely come and not pass by
But come to you according to
The time of life, and surely you
And Sarah your wife shall be blessed
To have a son." But for the rest
Sarah was listening at the door
Of her tent there behind the four.
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were
Old, well advanced in age, for her
Childbearing age was past.
12 Therefore Sarah was flabbergast
And laughed within herself, and said
"I who am old, shall I be led
To pleasure, while my husband is
Older than I?" 13 YHWH's Angel riz
To say to Abraham "Why did
Sarah laugh, doubt in her heart hid,
Saying 'Shall I who am so old
Still bear?' 14 "Is anything too bold
Or hard for YHWH? At time appointed
I shall return to you, anointed,
According to the time of life,
A son shall be born to your wife."
15 But Sarah denied what she said
"I did not laugh," she was afraid
And troubled on her own behalf.
And He said "No, but you did laugh!"

Like any Arab woman, Sarah hid
Behind the door and listened should he bid
Her do some service there, 'twas not her wish
To eavesdrop on the angel, no, some dish
Or pitcher was her claim to hiding there.
If You should visit Arab, then beware!
Like any visitor in Arab tent
The guest was irritated ere he went
To find the women of the house all hidden
Yet standing by in case they might be bidden.
And that's why angels cast the blame on her
For laughing. Abraham did not incur
Such censure when he also laughed inside.
Beloved, our pleasure's always not to hide.

16 Then the men rose from there and looked
Toward Sodom, and Abraham hooked
Himself to go part way with them.
17 YHWH's Angel said ad hominem,
"Shall I hide from Abraham what
I plan to do, 18 "since Abraham
Has been blessed and has surely got
The promise of the great I AM
To be a fine and mighty nation,
And all the nations of the earth
Shall be blessed in him and his station?
19 "For I have known him, that he will
Command his household to be still
Obedient in the way of YHWH,
To righteousness and justice do,
That YHWH may bring to Abraham
Whatever He has promised him."

Why did You choose, Belovèd, Abraham?
No doubt You had the choice of each I am
And every beggar's son. Then why this one?
From what You say here I think that I know
When sun is set and all their tasks are done,
Each man goes to his place, but teaching's slow.
Few teach their sons and daughters to obey
Creator and their Sovereign after day
Has tired bone and muscle, few there are.
But Abraham You knew to be a star.
I have not many children, but I seek
To teach them to know Your law week by week.
I cantillate Your Decalogue again
And once again as Sabbath comes to men.

20 YHWH's Angel said "Because the cry
Against Sodom does amplify
Against Gomorrah too as great,
And since their sins perpetuate,
21 "I will go down now and see whether
They've done wickedly altogether
According to the outcry that
Has come up to Me where I'm at,
And if not, then I'll know the thing."
(We've already met Sodom's king.)
22 And so the men turned back from there
And went toward Sodom, but as fair
Stood Abraham upon the spot
To know YHWH's Angel and His plot.

I stand before destroying angel here,
The one that bears the name of awe and fear,
And pray that my soul shall be spared to last
And go on living when all sin is past.
Destroy in me each thought of evil gain,
And every hope to find a place to reign.
Destroy the neglect of the morning sky,
The prayers that give the joy of passing by
In leaf and bloom new opened to the day.
Destroy in me, Beloved, each evil way.
Make bare my plain like Sodom's plain and now
Teach me new waters and new ways and how
The morning freshness of Your knowing can
Reach to the sunset of a living man.

23 And Abraham came near and said
"Would You destroy the righteous led
Along with those who are wicked?
24 "Suppose there were within the city,
Fifty righteous, would You take pity
And spare it for the sake of those?
25 "Far be it from You to oppose
The wicked as the proselyte,
And slay them both there in their clothes,
Shall not the Judge of all do right?
26 So then the Angel of YHWH said
"If I find fifty righteous led
Within Sodom then I will spare
The city and all living there."
27 Then Abraham answered and said
"Indeed now, I'm but dust for bread
And ashes, yet I speak to You,
The Lord, about the things You do.

I who am dust and ashes take on me
To speak to You, Beloved, as bold and free
As if to friend and brother, yet I know
Your glory behind veils can never show
To human sight. I dare to open lips
And lifting cup, receive Your name in sips,
Whose majesty is far beyond compare
With any of creation, glacier mass,
Gigantic fir pinned to the spacious air,
The firmament like living, moving glass,
The scintillating carpets of goutweed
And dandelion forever without need
Or hope abandoned in wild continent.
I who am only dust know what You meant.

28 "Now let's suppose there lacked but five
Of those righteous to keep alive,
Would You slay all for lack of five?"
So He said "If I find that sum,
I'll not destroy residuum."
29 He spoke to Him yet a third time
"Would forty righteous be a crime?"
So He said "If the righteous make
That sum, I'll save it for their sake."
30 Then he said "Let not the Lord be
Angry, and I'll speak once more free:
Suppose thirty should be found there?"
He said "For thirty, I would spare."
31 He said "Indeed now, I have dared
To speak for what the Lord declared,
Suppose there should be twenty found?"
He said "For twenty, I'll be bound."
32 He said "Let not the Lord be wroth
And I'll return to eat my broth,
Supposing ten should be found there?"
He said "For ten I'll still be fair."
33 So the Angel of YHWH went on
His way, and Abraham was drawn
Back to his place after his speaking
In favour of peace and peace-seeking.

Your prophet might have saved his time and breath.
You're going to judge, condemn, and put to death
The population of whole cities where
The prophet's sure ten righteous live and care.
He no doubt made a mission tour and found
That fifty joined the congregation sound.
But just in case, he got Your promise right
For those who may have somehow missed the light.
He slept well knowing that his fervent prayer
Had saved the day, come morning they'd be there.
He failed to count the loss of those who think
That faith begins and ends in what you drink.
All who had kept the law but failed to see
True Self in You alone burned with the free.

GENESIS 19

1 Now the two angels came to Sodom
And it was evening, Lot sat in
The city gate, would have unshod them.
He rose to meet them like his kin,
Bowed down to greet them to the ground.
2 He said "Here now, my lords, be found
To sleep this night beside my board,
As I am servant, you are lord,
Then rising early you may go
In safety to the next depot."
But they said "No, we'll spend the night
Upon the open square in sight."
3 But he insisted strongly, so
They turned in with him for to go
Into his house. He made a feast,
Baked bread, they ate it without yeast.

I came for the first time to eastern bank
Of the Euphrates. Dusk I had to thank
That from the imams' training school came out
Five young men, by the river walked about
And took me by compulsion, gave me meat
And kept me in the mosque, a special treat,
Until the evening prayers were done. I found
A bed and home for one night. I am bound
The gate of Sodom was no better place
Nor more hospitable. No stranger's face
Was seen but recognized as face of God.
Beloved, I find Your face wherever mine
Is recognized by what small mark and sign.
The kernel's sweet, though we see only pod.

4 Before they could lie down, the men
Of Sodom, old and young again,
From every quarter, here they came
All to surround the house for shame.
5 They called to Lot and said "Where are
The men who came to you tonight?
Bring out the guests from near or far
And let us get acquainted right."

From loving contemplation of the face
The evil heart will without guide give place
To lust, and lust bring forth at last the fruit
Of violence in rape to follow suit.
So great and civilized reduced in lust
And violence, sank faith to humble dust.
The heart imagines shining faith to be
Its hallmark in any depravity.
The pristine "I" remains divine through all
The byways of transgression's beck and call.
Beloved, I turn from contemplation of
Your face upon creation's screen of love
And find how easily illusion's pall
Falls on the empty heart without recall.

6 Lot went out to them through the door,
And shut the door behind him, for
7 He said "Please, do not, brothers mine,
Act wickedly, but well and fine!
8 "See now, I have two daughters of
My congregation who've had love
From no man yet. I'll bring them out
And you shall choose without a doubt
Which of you men shall marry them.
But do no harm, do not condemn
These guests of mine, and stay aloof,
For they are guests beneath my roof."

The laws of marriage never fail to stand,
And hospitality to give a hand
To traveller in the way remains for good.
All brothers must behave the way they should,
No matter what the level of their power,
Degree of wealth, no matter what the hour
Or what the vision of Your glory be.
The mystic state does not set any free
From duty to obey the divine law.
Just as the master of high algebra
Does not give up the simple two plus two,
I bow to ethics even in the pew
Of mystic brotherhood. Beloved, the roof
Casts shadows on the friend and the aloof.

9 They said "Stand back! This one came in
To live here and tell us what's sin.
Keep acting as a judge and we
Shall deal worse with you than with them.
You certainly shall not go free."
So they pressed hard, Lot tried to stem
The tide against him, but in vain,
They nearly broke the door in twain.
10 The men reached out their hands and took
Lot in the house, shut door, 11 and struck
The men who were at the doorway
Of the house with blindness, they say,
Both small and great, and so they wore
Themselves to rags to find the door.

Blindness on blindness does not stop the go
To find the door to heaven and to show
Both self and world that I am never wrong
Though rightness cannot taste my weary song
In truth. The frantic flight toward the sky
In search of spirituality and pie
Does not give up though clouds of dark and mist
Protect the frozen heights of thought, insist
That on the sunny side of firmament
There is the gold-filled pot to which I'm sent.
I shall beat down the door and show I'm brave
Who search for You, Beloved, not like a slave,
But with a virile sense ignoring doom,
A man who knows his place and well-stocked room.

12 Then the men said to Lot, "Have you
Anyone else here? Son-in-law,
Your sons, your daughters, and whom you
Have in this grand basilica,
Take all and leave this wretched place!
13 "We will destroy this place, because
The outcry of their breaking laws
Has grown great in front of YHWH's face,
And YHWH has sent us to destroy it."
14 So Lot went out not to enjoy it
But warning to his sons-in-law,
Who'd married his daughters, his awe
Did not affect them when he said
"Get up, and leave this place, for YHWH
Will spoil this city!" But his head
Was foolish to his sons-in-law
Who were not worth the talking to.

This world is upside down, and yet its folk
Walk upright as it were. My faith, I poke
My head around the corner just to see
How civilized upside down things can be.
All things continue as they ought and should
Since time was made, and mount and valley stood.
And yet a day can come when all things change,
When narrow breaks out in a further range
Of mountains, smoke on valleys, rising seas.
Who spoke of variance from routine lees
Met storms of ridicule. I make my days
Eventless, yet unique in all their ways
As I seek You, Beloved, each day anew,
Infinities of stays in what You do.

15 When morning dawned, the angels urged
Lot to hurry, "Get up, diverged,
Take wife, both daughters who are here,
Lest you be consumed in the fear
And punishment of Sodom." 16 And
While he lingered, they took his hand,
His wife's and both his daughters' too,
Since mercy came to him from YHWH,
And brought him out as they had pity,
And set him down outside the city.

Lay hold on me, Beloved, I linger here
Beneath the rosy dawn. I have no fear.
Is it not good I have no fear at all?
Is it not grand my hearing of Your call
Has well inured me to the fateful ball,
And left me set apart, serene and calm
While others frantically avoid the bomb,
The others being angels even? My
High state of spirituality, so high,
Prevents any response to hue and cry.
Is it not fine, Beloved, I know no rage
And sit emotionless from age to age?
They are but prisoners of dark illusion,
(Are they not?) who succumb to the confusion.

17 It happened, when they'd brought them out,
He said "Escape, don't turn about!
Don't look behind you, no, nor stay
Anywhere in the plain or way.
Go to the mountains, lest you be
Destroyed." 18 Then Lot spoke to them, he
Said "Please, no, O my lords! 19 "Indeed
Now, I, your servant, in my need,
Have found grace in your sight, and you
Have multiplied the mercy you
Have shown me by saving my life,
But I can't escape with my wife
Into the mountains, lest some danger
Come overtake me while a ranger
And I die. 20 "See now, this city
Is near enough for me to flee,
And it's a small one, please now give
Me leave to go there and to live."

The city is a symbol of Your beauty,
Beloved, and so I live in one as duty.
The duty to bring to the civilized
The divine message should be realized.
The mystic cup kept to oneself alone
In time turns fat and meat to tasteless bone.
So let me join the throngs in some bright city
Where men are great and women know no pity.
If I should have to live on mountain slope
Who knows what evil might destroy my hope,
Who knows what tender flowers after the rain
Might clog my path to wealth and mystic gain?
Let my soul live near possibilities
And not beneath the stars and awful trees.

21 And he said to him, "See, I grant
You your request as habitant,
And shall not overthrow this city
For which you have appealed in pity.
22 "But hurry and escape there quickly.
For I must wait for you and prickly
Till you arrive, so I can act.
That is part of my promised pact."
That's why Zoar's the city's name,
And it means small, but not to blame.
23 The sun had risen upon the land
When Lot entered Zoar with his band.
24 Then YHWH rained brimstone down with fire
On Sodom and Gomorrah, ire
From YHWH out of the heavens come
25 So He destroyed them, made them dumb,
And all the plain, the people in
The cities, and what grew for bin.

I understand Your killing all the people
And breaking down both wall and dome and steeple
With fire and brimstone fully justified.
But everything that grew on the ground died.
Are plants and flowers sinful, and is fruit
Worth nothing in Your sight, like dust and soot?
Ah, kill the worried people, Lord, but spare
The violet and coltsfoot, make not bare
The lovely earth, the fragrant ground and soil.
Curse not again the earth for human toil.
Keep brimstone on the city and the fashion,
But when it comes to wild wood, have compassion.
My I-ness with a curious willingness
Relinquishes the people You would bless.

26 But his wife looked back behind him,
Became a tower of salt for whim.

The wife of Lot, she was a comely lot
Of sack, and popular for what she'd got.
Salt of the earth, they said who knew her best.
Shoulders and head she stood above the rest.
She knew the score, and kept her man in hand,
Her husband so susceptible to grand
And noble visions, quite up in the air.
But Lot's wife handled more than was her share.
She looked back to be sure nothing forgotten
Preyed on her mind, not gold, linen or cotton.
She looked back on a life ordered, well kept,
And stood to take a hand, and stood, and slept.
Who handles well the world and life and show
Remains asleep, and salted down to mow.

27 And Abraham went early out
To where he and YHWH'd stood about.
28 Then he looked toward the city plain,
To Sodom and Gomorrah's pain,
And toward all the land of the plain,
And he saw, and indeed, the smoke
Of the land about which God spoke
Went up like smoke from a furnace.
29 And it happened, that, when alas,
Ælohim spoiled the cities on
The plain, that Ælohim went on
To mind Himself of Abraham,
And sent Lot out of all the sham
And spoil, when He destroyed the place
Where Lot had lived and shown his face.

I look at rosy dawn toward the place
Your Angel stood, and see again his face
Set in compassion and in well-sought duty.
I see again Your Angel in his beauty.
The burning love You hold to all mankind
Will not be satisfied with torn and blind,
But must take of the first and best of all
To sacrifice in sweetness and in gall.
I turn toward the flames of charity
And feel the hotness on my face, I see
The longing fires sprung quickly from Your heart
To cleanse the soul in every nook and part
Of othernesses and of other gods,
Till You alone are left above the clods.

30 Then Lot went out of Zoar and lived
Up in the mountains, negatived
Had been his living in Zoar for
Himself and both his daughters, more
Could not be borne, and so he went
To live in caves instead of tent.
31 Now the firstborn said to the younger,
"Our father, leader without hunger
Of this diminished dervish order,
Is old, and there's nor man nor boarder
To marry us in all the earth.
32 "Come, let us make our father-priest
Of congregation and of worth
Drink wine of ecstasy. At least
He'll marry us and thus preserve
His line of children and not swerve."

Afraid to live among the riot ways
Of city nights and polished city days,
Lot takes two women from his congregation
To build on ashes towards another nation.
And yet his scruples as a man of God
Will not permit him to plough up the sod.
Loss, loss is all a man can ever find
In Zoar or in Sodom with the blind.
He offered them in marriage to blind fools
Who came at last in refuge to the pools
Of solitude and duty. Sometimes there
Is nothing left but water and still air.
Bless then, Beloved, the refugee and star,
The wandering satyrs wherever they are.

33 So they made their father and priest
Drink wine of ecstasy increased
That very night and the first born
Contracted marriage and was sworn,
And consummated though he knew
Not when she came nor when withdrew.
34 It happened on the next day too
The firstborn told the younger, "Do
As I did with our father-leader,
Let him drink wine, become conceder,
And enter marriage contract so
You shall lie with him to make grow
The line of our father and beau."

If wine of ecstasy is what is taught
In this crude story or if wine that's bought
From liquor outlet is intended here,
It makes but little difference, I fear.
The story is a warning for both things,
The weaknesses of labourers and kings.
I drink the clear draught of water of life
I find served at Your table, and not strife.
Beloved, I find the drunkenness You give
Makes mind and senses clearer where I live.
The heady realizing You are One
Is stronger stimulation than the fun
Of drinking and carousing. You are my
Sane knowing, my Beloved, without the pie.

35 Then they made their father drink wine
Of ecstasy and countersign
A contract of wedding and so
The younger lay, nor did he know
When she lay down nor when she rose.
36 So both young ladies as they chose
Were pregnant by the priestly throes.
37 The firstborn gave birth to a son
And called his name Moab when done.
He is ancestor to this day
Of Moabites. 38 The younger's way
Was to give birth to son also
And Ben-Ammi was his chapeau.
He's ancestor to Ammon now
Or till the last day anyhow.

The two last members of Lot's hearth cry out
In anguish at the wicked world about.
They fear the faith in You, Belovèd, ends
Since they and Lot alone remain Your friends.
If the last coal upon the hearth grows cold,
No longer shall the sparks fly up and bold
Hearts whirling, whirling there shall cease.
The wicked world is gone, their isle of peace
Contains the leader of the faith and them
Alone to bow before the seamless hem.
He will not in his faithfulness agree
To take advantage of the souls that be
Beneath his sole protection, then we must
Bind fast the marriage contract and but trust."

GENESIS 20

1 And Abraham journeyed from there
Into the south, and lived somewhere
Between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed
In Gerar. 2 Now Abraham said
Of Sarah his wife, "She's my sister."
That was a bit of a truth twister.
The king Abimelech of Gerar
Then sent and took to himself Sarah.
3 But Ælohim came to the king
By night as he dreamed of the thing,
And said to him, "Indeed you're dead
Because the woman you would wed
Is a man's wife." 4 Abimelech
Had not come near her or her deck,
And he said "Lord, and will You slay
A righteous nation? 5 "Did he say
To me, 'She is my sister'? And
She herself said no countermand,
'He is my brother.' In my heart's
Integrity and in my parts
Of innocence I've sought my hand."

Since You, Beloved, spoke to Cain and not Abel
I have not been convinced prophetic label
Is worth the having. Now You speak to one
That Abraham feared for his life once done.
Abimelech was king and dangerous.
Granted he was a righteous man if fuss
That he did not commit adultery
At least on one occasion sets him free
Of every other accusation found.
It seems to free his nation whole and sound.
In such a sarkie I too might be tempted
To tell a lie and hope to be exempted.
You deal with both these princes in a way
That makes me wish I too had word to say.

6 And Ælohim said to him in
A dream, "I know you meant no sin.
That's why I kept you from the thing,
Nor let you touch her nor her sting.
7 "Now therefore, restore the man's wife,
For he's a prophet, for your life
He'll pray and you shall surely live,
But if you shall refuse to give
Her back, then you shall truly die,
Both you and all your passers-by."

Abimelech himself became a prophet
By hearing Your voice, not a thing to scoff at.
Does this mean that the wife need not return
To husband if that man has none to earn?
I'd think she should be given back to any,
To labourer or prince, with piles or penny,
And all alike. I guess that's just my bias
For the democracy that's come to try us.
Let either Abraham or king say prayers
For me to live and not put on their airs.
Withhold me too, Beloved, from sin at heart
And hand, and I shall do my humble part.
I need not be a prophet, need not hear
More than Your loving silence at my ear.

8 Abimelech rose in the morning,
Called all his servants to give warning,
And told the news in all their hearing,
And all the men were greatly fearing.
9 Abimelech called Abraham
And said to him, "What is this sham?
What have you done to us? Have I
Offended you, that you should try
To bring great sin on me and mine?
What you have done is not benign."

In horror of my dreams I wake and rise
And seek the comfort of the morning skies
Turned red with all Your servants walking there
Beneath the stars, above the icy air.
Your warning, my Beloved, burns in my breast
As morning light turns from the east to west.
"Look not to beauty and attractive face"
You tell my soul. "In this brief time and place
There is no safety following desire."
Yet I desire Your face, Beloved, aspire
To hear Your silences, and weigh Your sight
Invisible. Let me awake from night
To find Your day notes ringing on my ears,
Gone dreams, illusions and their empty fears.

10 Abimelech told Abraham,
"What intention's behind this scam,
That you have done a thing like this?"
11 And Abraham said "If I miss
My guess, because I thought, the fear
Of Ælohim surely's not here,
And they will kill me for my wife.
12 "But indeed she, upon my life,
Is truly sister. She, the daughter
Of my father's tribal ancestor,
But not the daughter of my mother,
Became the wife of me, her brother.
13 "And it happened, when Ælohim
Caused me to wander from the teem
Of my ancestral home, that I
Said to her, 'When we're passing by
These foreign places be so kind
To say I am your brother, mind.'"

Brother and sister is the thing I hear
In every place I go, no doubt sincere.
The folk demand my prayers on their behalf
As though I had a mitre and a staff.
At first I made for each true supplication,
A separate prayer for each one's consolation,
But with time started making one for all,
A list of names, a puppet and a doll.
And then I noticed brothers had forgotten
They'd asked for prayers at all.
That should have taught one
That brother, sister's just a word to say
When silence threatens to appal the day.
I have no siblings, sincere ones or not,
But do not covet Abraham nor Lot.

14 Abimelech took oxen, sheep,
Gave him maids and servants to keep,
And gave to Abraham his wife,
Sarah, because he feared for life.
15 Abimelech said "See, my land
Is here before you, stay and stand
Wherever in it you may please."
16 Then to Sarah he said "To ease
My conscience I have given your brother
A thousand in silver to smother
The taint upon your reputation
Before my people and my nation."
And thus she was rebuked, I deem.
17 So Abraham prayed Ælohim,
And Ælohim healed both the king
Abimelech, his wife's bearing,
And all his maids to bear again,
18 For YHWH had closed up all in vain
The wombs in all the royal court
Of king Abimelech in sort,
For Sarah, Abraham's consort.

A thousand pieces made of silver or
Of gold would hardly begin to restore
The reputation lost. Indeed, it would
In my eyes raise suspicions, yes, it could.
Why give a thousand, if he had not laid
A lawless hand or leg on her or made
A fatal kind of proposition? My
Mind rests alone because of, by the by,
What You said, that You'd kept the man from sin.
So why was she rebuked? The men came in
The matter just as much as she, or more.
The lying increased cattle, wealth and store.
Why did You close the womb, Beloved, and not
The testicle of king and prince besot?


AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

To purchase the books, please go to:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-mcelwain/the-beloved-and-i-genesis-to-maccabees/paperback/product-20136835.html http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-mcelwain/the-beloved-and-i-job-to-revelation/paperback/product-20050862.html

Was the birth of Ishmael the result of a tragic human error or God's plan of grace?