-Dallas 2012
“I’m tired of frogs and flies and gnats,” God said,
“So kill a goat. Then, use its blood to cake
Your posts and lintels thick, or I will take
Your sons when I come down and strike them dead.”
Last night we heard planes buzzing overhead.
As pesticides rained down on White Rock Lake,
We lay there, half asleep and half awake.
I thought about the Hebrews: They, in bed,
Had heard Egyptians screaming, or the still
Emptiness of death. The angel came–
Or didn’t – and then left. This was the same,
But with the roles reversed: God not the shrill
Whining of the planes, but the moths and strays
Who’d die – or wouldn’t – gasping in the haze.
“I’m tired of frogs and flies and gnats,” God said,
“So kill a goat. Then, use its blood to cake
Your posts and lintels thick, or I will take
Your sons when I come down and strike them dead.”
Last night we heard planes buzzing overhead.
As pesticides rained down on White Rock Lake,
We lay there, half asleep and half awake.
I thought about the Hebrews: They, in bed,
Had heard Egyptians screaming, or the still
Emptiness of death. The angel came–
Or didn’t – and then left. This was the same,
But with the roles reversed: God not the shrill
Whining of the planes, but the moths and strays
Who’d die – or wouldn’t – gasping in the haze.