situational

the neighbors must have asked, but Noah shrugged

so done with advertising what he planned.

He used to socialize, 'til he got mugged

but now he's sure they'll never understand.

The voices coming to him in the night--

insisting he must make this box his home--

would only cause the doomed to fret and fight;

 the dreams were meant for him, and him alone.

A later prophet'd warn Assyria

that God did not approve their errant ways

but Noah'd let the folk of Ninevah

go blithely to their fiery end of days.

within his generation, Noah's best.

But Avraham did better by his guest.

holiday spirit III

Holiday spirit

felonious elf violates our homes
by entering soot-covered from above
behavior sanctioned by no legal tomes
to waken more cupidity than love

the tale's obscured if it gets even told
of migrants denied so much as a bed
of townsfolk who don't care that the night's cold
but let them sleep like cattle in the shed

the Pashtun honor hospitality
even to guests who brought war death and woe
but here when innocents are forced to flee
they find locked gates and have no place to go

"there's no room at the inn" is false and cruel

for war-tossed wayfarers this time of  Yule