“Help me, dearest Lord Jehovah, sense you
Even cramped in the wounded sky.”
for Johanna
D.A.Vid
BC
One Jonah
Three Serpent
Five Jeremiah
Seven Light from Darkness
Nine Earth from Waters
AD
Two Demonic swine
Four Magi
Six Fig tree
Eight Baptist
Ten Levitation
ONE
Yahweh had arranged that a great fish should be there to swallow Jonah; and Jonah remained in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. From the belly of the fish he prayed to Yahweh, his God. . . . . . . . . Yahweh spoke to the fish, which then vomited Jonah on to the shore. Jonah 2:1-11
Jonah, astounding, metaphysician, held us in a convoluted spiral
Shredding the absolute black. Even in his mute palpations, trapped
In the belly of a fish, somehow forecast the undulations of some
Dizzy sextillion suns, a whorl of naked fire, a kiss a searing scar.
It seems or seemed just then in viscous void what fearful bounty
Shivered, quaked at what we were or were to be, Jehovah’s fractious
Progeny, from glutinous foment’s slime past Up [gained upward
Spine, Mankind] and what gave bread and wine to all demonic
Chthonic chronic, stark diffuse in time. Yet Jonah? What comely
Calves are these? What glossy limpid limbs, confection? Some
Suchness of his feel? What brainless zeal, what squeal? ‘D wreak
A boundless vengeance on the quiet? Or scab what fruitless riot?
TWO
They stood there shouting, “What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the time? . . . If you cast us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” And he said to them, “Go then,” and they came out and made for the pigs; and at that the whole herd charged down the cliff into the lake and perished. . . . Matthew 9:29-33
Shimmer in the quiet sky, pale bleed of blue, some 15 hundred lilac
Swine, all grease and sweat, stink-ravaged sun and rapt ingestion.
There just there a Christ inclines voiceless in the suck & roar, to
Heal and bring to heel pigs and devils. Demonic shrieks erupt a
Boundless eructation, the fright sensation, the feel, all squeal as
Beasts turn tail and charge the cliff, snort rattle quake, a bleating
Fury, that Hell itself would shudder, worry all fevered lard cascading
Into SMACK! Just there just then a Demon-Gott’s attack, from
Outer, inner, poised, ALL carnage pig upon the stacks viscera
Impinging on abyss, small matter snout their snout has kissed,
Obscenity of ragged carnal in the motion, surge. Are moments
Into IT: the Christly Mensch has quelled a TORRID horrid fit.
THREE
So Moses fashioned a bronze serpent which he put on a standard, and if anyone was bitten by a serpent, he looked at the bronze serpent and lived.
Numbers 21:9
A serpent coils the vertical, but bronze, a sign, a standard &
No threat—just to its left the faithless in their boil, curse,
Shriek, their quest. Where is this snake in God’s immortal
Kingdom? How prefigure Son upon a Cross? Of very self
The saved gaze on in quiet; guilty riot, sheer legacy a spasm
Of pain unending—‘tis such Jehovah’s bending, such those
Leaks no viper’d heal: for retribution judicates fierce rending
Of the Soul! They writhe upon the soil, and no amount of
Beauty in their straits redeems obscene, no jutting flank, no
Finery, nor comely garment eases, while right the righteous
Gesture, precurse their truest Son. This been was Him? Or
Cruciform salvation is the norm? & corpus warm. To term!
FOUR
Having listened to what the king had to say, they set out. And there in front of them was the star they saw rising; it went forward and halted over the place where the child was. The sight of the star filled them with delight, and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Matthew 2:9-12
We found a savior in a shed suffused by soft supernal light, the
Gentle 3 God humbled and as much ourselves, struck dumb; so
Thankful for the sight that presents seemed utterly unequal to the
Child, and 3 together Godlike beings, whose simple garments
Gleamed one Godly glow which tore at eyes and sucked our inner
Strength. What were these? And how adorn with frankincense?
Frail gold and myrrh, all lavish gifts brought humble by the vision.
WHICH was this child, and, further, was its mother? The man
Seemed curiously unmoved, possessor of a studied calm, aloof
From precious gift or balm, content at most to carry on his infant
Son’s odd numinously mission. ALL knew from years to come
We’d treasure this huge mystery captive mercy in our hearts.
FIVE
“When you tell this people all these words and they ask you, ‘Why has Yahweh decreed this appalling disaster for us? What is our crime? What sin have we committed against Yahweh our God?’ then you are to answer, ‘It is because your ancestors abandoned me—it is Yahweh who speaks—and followed alien gods, and served and worshipped them. They abandoned me and did not keep my Law.’”
Jeremiah 16:10-11
Jeremiah grims his eloquent hand, devours an outward message
While the left pours pain toward leather leggings. Eloquent the bulk
Of his existence. All soul would trade salvation for a squint a hint,
Of this old man, this bitter prophet. All brain is twined with fury.
Summons in fact despair that all Creation, ceased ignores a feast.
Messiahs come? And gone? Where can he suffer fools enough to
Gather some scant few to fruitful living? Our mild Yahweh strives
By this old man’s account, forgiving. Yet even celestial patience’s
Tried. The best incline toward slumber, odd gambol in the rack of
Pain, scorn Gott as void, recoil, revoke, all genius, hug, a glitter of
Disdain. Angel of Hell itself, see not this master’s inward, wizened
Homely? That Future’s black? That void’s a lack and grim is lonely!
SIX
As he was returning to the city in the early morning, he felt hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it and found nothing on it but leaves. And he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again”; and at that instant the fig tree withered.
Matthew 21:18-20
A tree which bears no fruit cannot deserve to live? Such is the
Impulse of a being whose script is patently “Forgive?” Or canon
Is to mystify ALL Law, whose touch would grace both Herod’s
Wench and Baptist’s countenance on a platter, Herod himself or
Helpmate’s daughter? All anger, misogyny or slaughter? “Here IS
My judgment, rest in pain, I’d have my fig; ‘tis JUST, that plain. Who
Therefore scants shall claim at last what bounty lacks; this curse securely
On its back, ‘tis my attack . . . Just WITHER!” “Whither? Whether?
All cripples dance, a cancer’s given? By chance forgiven?” “I’d query,
Query weary, Iscariot that chose for most ‘Miscarry it.’ I’d choose to sleep
The day God pruned our weeds. I’d choose the deeds. Moses gave Ten, we
Lack Eleven. Judas the Maven? Barren, afraid, betrayed of Heaven.”
SEVEN
God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that light was good, and God divided light from darkness. God called light “day,” and darkness he called “night.” Evening came and morning came: the first day.
Genesis 1:3-5
A whirling ungodly Gott! Would rip the emerald sky from black,
Shred wind from stars, wrest sun from bleeding pitch, embark on
Wildest even in His manic mind? endeavor. Dear Christ, who was
To be, what fever! There the boundless empyrean waste, there
Sudden be violated into being, there the chastened chased! What
Rage endured Creator toward such wisdom! How huge this thrust
To CONCEPT! A deity looms large, wrenching the vast abyss;
We watch from fragile vantage point His motions. Eye gownèd belly
Of Creator, eye monster rather, madness rapt erupting into forms,
A whole whose birth none could foresee. And loneliness enough?
To thrust such terror, rage to be? How celebrate this violation of
Of His blood that skewed a doomed eternal ripple on the quiet?
EIGHT
Then Jesus appeared: he came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. John tried to dissuade him. “It is I who need baptism from you” he said “and yet you come to me!” But Jesus replied, “Leave it like this for the time being; it is fitting that we should, in this way, do all that righteousness demands.” At this John gave in to him.
As soon as Jesus was baptized he came up from the water, and suddenly the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him.
Matthew 3:12-16
The Baptist is a fearful sight, from matted crown to jagged fright,
A countenance full scabbed and scarred; the beard spits notions of
Dull twine and shard. As if he gathered Hell to guard with insect,
Purple weed, that plain, a hand unkempt with hair and stain, intent,
His garments properly attack, a moth assault on simply black, or coarsely
Cousin gathered sack, against broad bone and wiry frame, excess of
Height that fells the tame, or injured lame who cower under. But lad
He grips NO manner ordure, some 30 years, sleek but soft, WITH
Bearing princely and of regal loft, full cleanly, Noble, with a glance
That shears, to scar or heal all matter years OR shrugs a lesser wit &
Strength, to drain from fury, pith and length, the Baptist’s grasp—
All in true query of an aged lad, a greater rout, what doubt he had.
NINE
God said, “Let there be a vault in the waters to divide the waters in two.” And so it was. God made the vault, and it divided the waters above the vault from the waters under the vault. God called the vault “heaven.”. . . . God said, “Let the waters under heaven come together into a single mass, and let dry land appear.”
Genesis 1:6-10
God the Father explodes from the brawn of Gott! Cerebral flash
Is what He’s caught, surge to wrestle water’s utter into Being. Simply
Confront just how He spirals through the Heavens. And there his
Puta! A human-blind Creator summons at the summit, a guttural
Bending burst of sound. Ach hear Him proudly rev immortal engines.
HE is Creator. HE is without limit! HE shall have His way! Such
Awesome navigation wrests all night from Day, all substance from
Primordial soup, all trilobite, ALL nucleus, all atom. In time His
Adam, for nothing can hinder boundless thirst, exuberance, all riot,
Blunder, texture, tortured fabric of the quiet. Universe itself SO
Riven! God bursts from Gott! This ordered ardor rips at servant
Satan. Curse him? Almighty torsion? Laceration? lesion of His lap.
TEN
In the fourth watch of the night he went towards them, walking on the lake, and when the disciples saw him . . . they were terrified. . . . Jesus called out to them, saying, “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.” It was Peter who answered, “Lord,” he said “if it is you let me come to you across the water.” “Come,” said Jesus. Then Peter got out of the boat and started walking toward Jesus across the water. . . .
Matthew 14:26-30
The mountain where last we looked was bathed in evening light. But
Storm was here, head-wind and angry clouds that buffeted our skiff,
Fear in itself but not so fearful as that figure on the turbulent waters.
The ghost it seemed of very Christ retired to take a solace to himself
Upon the peak, while kindred souls here rested from their oars; and
Lingering fragments of the mob, the half He’d healed. But there, all
There a solitary guest, a specter against the reddened sky, remote yet
Nearing. “Who’s there?” Cried John? Cried Matthew, Peter, Mark?
“Who’s there?”— WHO mattered less than fury collective as sea itself
Churned dread itself to complement our haste. And thing-like thing
Responded “I the Christ!” Peter himself “Then let me walk to thee!” Then Son:
“Come.” “Ach Gott, I sink!” A Son of God eased both Men to the skiff.
2014-17
