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Departure from Egypt

   

 


The river like a brown goddess controlled our waking dreams.
And then began our journey into the darkening sands of madness
And of despair. We, slaves of the serpent, have fixed
Our salvation in the path of the apocalypse. Many years
The world has remained the same for us; we contented
Ourselves to drink of the earthen waters and come in
Under the mountain shadows, holding out only for the fleeting peace
Of a kingdom in dissolution. At the break
Of the sky-piercing sun we gathered together our vanities
And set off into the mocking sandstorms of the new jerusalem,
Longing always to return to the dark fertile lands of the great river.
'A strange death,' I heard many voices utter in alien accents,
As we sustained the day's march with blistered feet
And cracked tongues. We should be glad of prison or grave
Or anything to relieve the sun's burning and the desert's echo.
Yet, in the chill breath of the morning a new hope embraced
Our hearts, already cold of the desert night
And already seething with bloody rage to join in battle
Our mortality. We knew the coming of the Lamb
And the blood of the Lamb. We knew the coming of Christ Jesus
Of the Cross.


 

 
     
   

 

Copyright © 2002 D.E. Willer. All rights reserved.