The desert song of Jonah - Poem

I am alone at the party

the gaiety

of the falsely repentant

is like a lidless eye

leers at me

like a golden desert sun

it is not your task

to judge but to speak

you are my mouth my tongue

Oh I see that you are sweating

wait wait where you are

I will be back--

I will bring comfort

I have stopped burning

I know that you are full of mercy

I agree that you are compassionate

I sit in the shadow of your affection

I gaze out at the desert

I see that it is a garden

it is a dream

A wake awake, Jonah. Awake and utter a song.

a dead gourd

one of your jokes

are you very angry

be serious

your heartbreak is not interesting

it is your rhetoric that beguiles me

I liked your performance at Nineveh

just as I liked your song by the waters of Babylon

your legal brief at Uz

I want you to praise me hotly but more than that

I want you to save the world

by any means necessary

your word against

mine

ALICIA OSTRIKER is a poet and critic. Her most recent book of poems, The Little Space (1998), was a National Book Award finalist. She is also the author of The Nakedness of the Fathers: Biblical Visions and Revisions (1994). Her poem, "Bruriah, "appeared in the Spring 2001 issue.

COPYRIGHT 2001 American Jewish Congress
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group