Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Wrestling with an Angel

There are so many misconceptions
about what happened on the mountain.
So many.

The specter, a diabolical heat shimmer,

pushed and rolled me up the incline,

made my hands move like those of a puppet

to build the craggy stone altar.

 

It placed a knife in my hand,

curled my fingers and raised my arm

but I’d had quite enough and fought back.

 

I cursed and spat at this shadow of light,

this messenger of so-called meaning,

until it fell back, a twisting dust devil

racing into the desert from which it came.

 

I cut the cords, dropped the knife.

Isaac rose from the rocks and was free.

We stumbled down the mountain,

and I never looked back.

 

I still converse with grass, rivers, and trees,

but I no longer speak to the sky.

If it should happen to send words my way,
I do not listen, do not try

to translate messages into my native tongue.

 

It may converse with the dung for all I care.

It’s song will go unsung.

 

There will be no more sacrifices

to the how and the where and the when,

nor will I give up my allegiance to why.


~William Hammett



Site Map

No comments:

Post a Comment