Ki Tetzei II

Elisha ben Abuyah watched a son
chase off a mother bird to raid her nest
and quipped he'd get reward for what he'd done
obedient to his old man's behest.
Dual mitzvot surely marked him for long life;
it's inexplicable he'd be cut short.
But this boy died, and never knew a wife.
Elisha lost all faith in Heaven's Court.
Meir watched this play out, and yet stayed true,
convinced Truth laid obscured beneath p'shat.
A fundamentalist can't stay a Jew
insisting Torah's something that it's not.
the Deuteronomistic quid pro quo
seemed indefensible as youth smashed, dead
two paths diverged; Elisha couldn't go
the pious route. He hunted proofs instead.
No earthly tally always works out right
the wicked prospers, and the righteous bleeds.
No father could forget this awful sight;
his son got villain's wages for good deeds.
The metaphoric ledger just won't sum
without more columns for the World to Come.