A youth wanders by
Seeking family,
Finding betrayal.

He will be torn from the land,
Home slipping from his grasp.
Yet, he will redeem his people.

The land now beneath your feet
Will nourish your children.
Yet you will not dwell here until it
Shelters your bones.

The stars gather,
The grains of sand shift,
Offshoot of the blessed arrives.
The beginning of redemption--
to belong to those following the Maker!
El Elohe Israel

A passage opened that life below
might join flesh above.
Brief respite, but
Peace is disturbed.
Violence, death, fear.
A renewed promise to the Maker.
(The terebinth will hide the trespass)
The sands are ever shifting.
Alone again.

Flowing, moving, nourishing. . .
The terebinth attests to the life beneath.
The flesh returns --
lost, wandering, seeking life.
Issue of the remnant yet
Ignorant of the Maker.
Nourish, feed, hope, wait.

The rumble of footsteps,
yet more flesh and beast . . .
--a different scent--
Ah, one who knows!
The touch of the Maker,
Blessing to the land,
A promise, a hope,
A pleasing aroma rises.
The blessed journeys on.
Hope is renewed.

The earth shudders,
Poison unleased.
Oh flesh, why?
The curse, the curse
Life enchained
The earth groans and
Waits for the Redemption.

Life poured out,
Death seeps in.
The earth cries out!
Putrid taste, overwhelming stench--
The stain spreads.
The flesh corrupts.
All is fouled, all is weary.

The Maker calls!
Enough! Break loose!
Begin again, wash the filth!
Swirling, raging,
Choking, swallowing,
Flesh struggles,
Flails,
Falls silent.
The rage subsides--
Return to your appointed place.
Wait.
All is silent.
Wait.

Life--
Flowing, moving, mingling
Above, below
Through
Entwined with the earth,
Rising, spreading, nourishing
Each to his appointed task!
Gather! Flow! Move!
Rivers above,
Rivers below . . .
Flowing beneath yet living
Still flowing, still moving,
Still nourishing
Still giving life --
Life from the Maker.
The earth rejoices.
It is good.