Wednesday, January 17, 2018

This one better; it goes to eleven (b'shelach)

"Eleven plagues" ain't got that certain ring
we're out of fingers, having tallied ten.
But smiting first-borns somehow spared the king;
he's leading the pursuit with chosen men.
The Sea's the weapon to defeat the Nile
no angel, and no seraph, and no elf
can do what God cannot, by force, or guile.
The Pharaoh's got to do this to himself.
While Israelites sing on the shore, dry-shod
seahorses mock the cavalry below
a testament for those with faith in God
with such a monarch, they need fear no foe.
The narrative begins in flowing blood
and ends with Pharaoh stuck fast, in the mud.

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