GENESIS 20 - THE BELOVED AND I

Genesis 20

1 And Abraham journeyed from there

Into the south, and lived somewhere

Between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed

In Gerar. 2 Now Abraham said

Of Sarah his wife, "She's my sister."

That was a bit of a truth twister.

The king Abimelech of Gerar

Then sent and took to himself Sarah.

3 But Ælohim came to the king

By night as he dreamed of the thing,

And said to him, "Indeed you're dead

Because the woman you would wed

Is a man's wife." 4 Abimelech

Had not come near her or her deck,

And he said "Lord, and will You slay

A righteous nation? 5 "Did he say

To me, 'She is my sister'? And

She herself said no countermand,

'He is my brother.' In my heart's

Integrity and in my parts

Of innocence I've sought my hand."



Since You, Beloved, spoke to Cain and not Abel

I have not been convinced prophetic label

Is worth the having. Now You speak to one

That Abraham feared for his life once done.

Abimelech was king and dangerous.

Granted he was a righteous man if fuss

That he did not commit adultery

At least on one occasion sets him free

Of every other accusation found.

It seems to free his nation whole and sound.

In such a sarkie I too might be tempted

To tell a lie and hope to be exempted.

You deal with both these princes in a way

That makes me wish I too had word to say.



6 And Ælohim said to him in

A dream, "I know you meant no sin.

That's why I kept you from the thing,

Nor let you touch her nor her sting.

7 "Now therefore, restore the man's wife,

For he's a prophet, for your life

He'll pray and you shall surely live,

But if you shall refuse to give

Her back, then you shall truly die,

Both you and all your passers-by."



Abimelech himself became a prophet

By hearing Your voice, not a thing to scoff at.

Does this mean that the wife need not return

To husband if that man has none to earn?

I'd think she should be given back to any,

To labourer or prince, with piles or penny,

And all alike. I guess that's just my bias

For the democracy that's come to try us.

Let either Abraham or king say prayers

For me to live and not put on their airs.

Withhold me too, Beloved, from sin at heart

And hand, and I shall do my humble part.

I need not be a prophet, need not hear

More than Your loving silence at my ear.



8 Abimelech rose in the morning,

Called all his servants to give warning,

And told the news in all their hearing,

And all the men were greatly fearing.

9 Abimelech called Abraham

And said to him, "What is this sham?

What have you done to us? Have I

Offended you, that you should try

To bring great sin on me and mine?

What you have done is not benign."



In horror of my dreams I wake and rise

And seek the comfort of the morning skies

Turned red with all Your servants walking there

Beneath the stars, above the icy air.

Your warning, my Beloved, burns in my breast

As morning light turns from the east to west.

"Look not to beauty and attractive face"

You tell my soul. "In this brief time and place

There is no safety following desire."

Yet I desire Your face, Beloved, aspire

To hear Your silences, and weigh Your sight

Invisible. Let me awake from night

To find Your day notes ringing on my ears,

Gone dreams, illusions and their empty fears.



10 Abimelech told Abraham,

"What intention's behind this scam,

That you have done a thing like this?"

11 And Abraham said "If I miss

My guess, because I thought, the fear

Of Ælohim surely's not here,

And they will kill me for my wife.

12 "But indeed she, upon my life,

Is truly sister. She, the daughter

Of my father's tribal ancestor,

But not the daughter of my mother,

Became the wife of me, her brother.

13 "And it happened, when Ælohim

Caused me to wander from the teem

Of my ancestral home, that I

Said to her, 'When we're passing by

These foreign places be so kind

To say I am your brother, mind.'"



Brother and sister is the thing I hear

In every place I go, no doubt sincere.

The folk demand my prayers on their behalf

As though I had a mitre and a staff.

At first I made for each true supplication,

A separate prayer for each one's consolation,

But with time started making one for all,

A list of names, a puppet and a doll.

And then I noticed brothers had forgotten

They'd asked for prayers at all.

That should have taught one

That brother, sister's just a word to say

When silence threatens to appal the day.

I have no siblings, sincere ones or not,

But do not covet Abraham nor Lot.



14 Abimelech took oxen, sheep,

Gave him maids and servants to keep,

And gave to Abraham his wife,

Sarah, because he feared for life.

15 Abimelech said "See, my land

Is here before you, stay and stand

Wherever in it you may please."

16 Then to Sarah he said "To ease

My conscience I have given your brother

A thousand in silver to smother

The taint upon your reputation

Before my people and my nation."

And thus she was rebuked, I deem.

17 So Abraham prayed Ælohim,

And Ælohim healed both the king

Abimelech, his wife's bearing,

And all his maids to bear again,

18 For YHWH had closed up all in vain

The wombs in all the royal court

Of king Abimelech in sort,

For Sarah, Abraham's consort.



A thousand pieces made of silver or

Of gold would hardly begin to restore

The reputation lost. Indeed, it would

In my eyes raise suspicions, yes, it could.

Why give a thousand, if he had not laid

A lawless hand or leg on her or made

A fatal kind of proposition? My

Mind rests alone because of, by the by,

What You said, that You'd kept the man from sin.

So why was she rebuked? The men came in

The matter just as much as she, or more.

The lying increased cattle, wealth and store.

Why did You close the womb, Beloved, and not

The testicle of king and prince besot?