He lives his prophecy

After Hosea 1

I am to marry you

by the vision, a woman,

stained, a symbol

of something else

for something else,

another purpose but

also the one defined,

the story of a people,

stained, vile, a filth

to be scrubbed and

cleaned, and I am

to marry you, and

be faithful to you,

removing the stain.

Illustration: The prophet Hosea and his wife Gomer.