Jericho

lead me to Jordan
the doves have ceased soaring

they berth in silent revolt
far from the Dead Sea
where bones rattle as tongues
spiked as forks
and the vegetation is barren
such a waste, this womb

The Garden of God
can no longer produce
cloudbursts of dinosaurs

my son's fragile fingers
waltz across canvas
under similar skies
knowing full well
that same small hand
shall one day raise
but one candle to this sky

to speak
and cease
the fright
in inherent night
under starless skies

another child weeps

why must we fight
for an inherent right
to simply
be

Oh, Isaiah,
your prophecy has come full circle
far from the blades
where you saw
the halves of times
the blades they sawed
your fragile diaphragm

sssshhhhhhhhhhhhh

the children speak for you, prophet
the wind is shifting
Sephoria awakens
her womb, a welcome

the children they shall rise
to denounce
the Kings and Chronicles

and you, martyr, shall envision
Vesuvius ablaze
and masses of movements of

children

The Genesis
of Exodus

(Dedicated to Jacob Gray United States Army)

© Susan Marie 2009