Evidence abounds

After Isaiah 28

The evidence of destruction

impending abounds, the bruised

and beaten refugees seeking

sanctuary inside our gates,

the cost of food exploding,

the mistrust with which we

observe each other

with averted eyes,

the ridicule with which we

greet each succeeding

proclamation and rule.

Evidence abounds of the terror

we know in our hearts, and we

speculate endlessly on whom

might save us, might rescue us,

might deliver us from what

surrounds us, the storm

whose clouds arch

the citadel, casting

their shadows and

darkness wherever

we seek light.

Photograph by Kai Stachowiak via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

Whom do I trust?

After Isaiah 28

It’s a question, not just

for then but also for now:

whom do I trust when

contemporary Assyrians

stand before the gates,

screaming their taunts,

their threats, showing evidence

of cruelty impaled on posts

and waved in front of us?

Whom do I trust when

barbarians shred our fabrics,

tear at our ropes, desecrate

our readings, our books, the words

we live by? Where do we find

our Egyptians to save us, to come

to our rescue, to deliver us?

Where can we find our Egyptians

when there are no Egyptians?

Photograph by Dawn Hudson via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.