For God Then Apparently (Genesis 22: 1-12)

And it came to pass
that God did test Abraham,
and said unto him: “Abraham,”
and Abraham, patriarch,
madman, said: “Here am I.”




For God then apparently
knew not where
everyone was . .

“Take now thy son,
thine only son
(for some don't count
all that much),
whom thou lovest,
even Isaac, that son,
and get thee to Moriah;
and offer him there
for a burnt-offering
upon one of the mountains
which I will tell thee of.”



For God then apparently
spoke like that
or leastways apparently
humans heard like that;

And this is a story of obedience;
and this is a story of obsession;
and this is a story
that makes no sense
aside those mad for fervor.

And Abraham took the wood
and laid it upon Isaac his son;
for the low
do the carrying,
and he took in his hand the fire
and the knife
for the high
have the killing stuff;
and they went
both of them together.



For you must then
kill your pretty ones;
it is an obsession
drives artists mad.




And Abraham stretched forth his hand,
and took the knife to slay his son.
For God then apparently
had given us neither
firing squad,
chairs electric,
chambers of gas, nor
lethal injection.
And the angel of the LORD
out of heaven
called to that wretched father,
saying, “Abraham, Abraham."
And he said: "Here am I."
And that angel up there said:
“Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
neither do thou any thing unto him;
for now I know that thou art
a God-fearing man, seeing
thou hast not withheld thy son,
even thine only son,
at least the one that really matters,
from Me."



For God then
didn't know
the hearts of men,
how we do dream of killing
all our pretty ones . . .



No,

apparently not.

Presidents' Days

In the old United States always
there were pictures on the wall
of presidents in oval
Washington and Lincoln
in the drear light of Winter
and we were given
we students of February
to know they were great
and we and our timelessness
second-best at best

our space race
our arms race
our mutually
assured destruction
our dominoes

our Vietnam
well, that was our Vietnam

in the old United States always
we were given to know
we students in February
that the winter of our discontent

was second best at best
to the wars of the men
in their oval portraits
defining moments
unlike our sour February

that it was our Vietnam