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POETRY

Here I Am

Here I am, Lord.

I have brought the sacrifice—
split the heifer, goat, and ram;
arranged the dove and pigeon.

Where are You?

Hours waste away.
The smell of blood
and open flesh
settles in.

Flies descend,
but not You.

Where did You go?

The sun sinks low.
The day wanes.
Still no sign.

Lord,
I have done all You asked,
and waited all day.
Now I’m fending off vultures.

Where are You?

Drowsiness falls;
I drift into the black.

So shall it be.
Four hundred years they shall wait,
in silence,
surrounded by vultures,
waiting for the day
when the sins of the land are complete.

I shake myself awake
only to find
blackness dark as sleep.

Night has come.

Flame and smoke
burst to life,
scattering the darkness,
and passing through the pieces
in pledge
of the Land Between the Rivers,
though it be long
in the coming.

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Desi Ana Sartini writes from SE Asia, where she has immersed herself in language. She studies Malay literature by day, Hebrew poetry by night, and cake-making on the weekends. You can read more of her work at www.breathanddust.com.

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Image: Abraham’s sacrifice, Phillip Medhurst, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.