NaPoWriMo - day seven

psalm two (version one)

so much anger.

so much scheming.

so much positioning.

so much subterfuge.

so against.

this is to protect you.

this is to strengthen you.

this will elicit laughter.

this will give rise to mocking.

there will be wrath.

there will be displeasure.

there will be a king.

there will be a mountain.

there will be a declaration:

this is my son.

these nations are yours.

this is all yours.

there need not be crushing.

there need not be so many pieces.

so be wise.

so be a king.

so be teachable.

so be full of care.

so rejoice.

so greet each other with a holy kiss.

so avoid anger and judgement.

so little asked.

so blessed those who trust.

And That is Your Glory by Yehuda Amichai - NPM7

I've yoked together my large silence and my small outcry
like an ox and an ass. I've been through low and through high.
I've been in Jerusalem, in Rome. And perhaps in Mecca anon.
But now God is hiding, and man cries Where have you gone.
And that is your glory.

Underneath the world, God lies stretched on his back,
always repairing, always things get out of whack.
I wanted to see him all, but I see no more
than the soles of his shoes and I'm sadder than I was before.
And that is his glory.

Even the trees went out once to choose a king.
A thousand times I've given my life one more fling.
At the end of the street somebody stands and picks:
this one and this one and this one and this one and this.
And that is your glory.

Perhaps like an ancient statue that has no arms
our life, without deeds and heroes, has greater charms.
Ungird my t-shirt, love; this was my final bout.
I fought all the knights, until the electricity gave out.
And that is my glory.

Rest your mind, it ran with me all the way,
it's exhausted now and needs to knock off for the day.
I see you standing by the wide-open fridge door, revealed
from head to toe in a light from another world.
And that is my glory.
and that is his glory.
and that is your glory.

Amichai, Yehuda "And That is Your Glory" Burning Bright: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry. Hampl, Patricia, ed. New York: Ballantine Books, 1995. 77.