These and Those

Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem

[PCJE] Hebron

Posted on November 9, 2014 by Geo Poor

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Geo PoorFour Men stood before the Watchers
the angels placed by God
to observe and record
     the deeds
     the facts
of all that walk this Earth

Explain!
came the command
a plea for adequate defense
a hope for a sense
     of progress
     of purpose
from someone
from anyone

They stood in the sun and claimed
It’s not me it’s him
     said the first
It’s not me it’s him
     said the second
and they went back and forth
before the befuddled Watchers
both taking
     one word forward
     one word back
their pain wounding
     themselves
     and the others
a death-addled dance
a dystopian dichotomy

And the angels sighed
and the angels cried
and they hoped and they wished
and waited
     …waited
          …waited…
               in the next world

posed for eternity

Then the other two men
     one stepped forward
     one stepped forward
and the total was greater

And they sat in the fading light
kindling candles of hope
their pain strengthening
     themselves
     and the other
and as the sunlight fled screaming
they sat and whispered
and the Watchers leaned in
and they talked and they planned
and they knew how they were created
     as equals
          …as brothers
               …as humans…
                    in this world

And the Watchers smiled
     And they wrote in their books