Exodus
Peter Howitt
1 min read·
Part X of the Canto for David
What promise
Was forgotten or broken
To make us so
Forsaken?
Surely there is
A purpose to
This wild suffering
Our abandonment
Did we
Choose this
Freely?
Our wanderlust
To wander lost
In wilderness
My Lord!
Give us a holy fire
To warm
Our hearts
It's cold living
With our only friends
The stars
Before we lived enslaved
Yet we were sometimes
Warm and full
Now we are free
Free to live
With hunger and
Uncertainty
HE WHO IS
I beg and plead
Give us a sign
Something
Something to believe
To help us see
This loss and lostness
Is necessary
Must our destiny
Be forged
In the fire and ash
Of what we flee?
I am who I am
And yet
I am nothing
On my own
Who am I?
Answer me!!!
If thou are more
Than false hope
And the silence
Between pleas
...At last
A stillness gathered
And smothered
The susurrant sands
Silence vast and heavy
Cloaked the land
And terrible nameless fear
Reached out its hand
All was dark
I could not see
I fell on stone
(Cracking my skull)
And in my head
I heard these words:
***
I AM
NOT A MAN
OR A PLACE
I AM THAT
I AM
THE SPACE
BETWEEN
EACH STAR AND STEP
I AM WORD…
AND THOUGHT…
AND BREATH…
THE WANT OF WHICH
IS DEATH!
I AM FIRE
THE FIRE YOU MAKE
WHICH YOU SHALL
ALWAYS CARRY
IN YOUR HEART
AND YOUR HANDS
THAT I AM
AND YOU
YOU ARE THE LIVING THING
THAT MUST BURN
MY OFFERING
YOU ARE THE GUARDIAN
OF THE BREATH
OF LIFE
YOU CARRY WITHIN
THAT THOU ART!
***
I awoke
Beneath a sky
Bright and clear
No longer lost
And now I see!
The only
Holy land
Lives in me
Those falsely
Promised lands
Will always be
Out of reach
Beyond the sands
Our worth
Is held just
In these hands:
That love
All living things
That care
For each other
And tender
The earth
It is enough
(Lest it be spilled)
This Earth
Our journey together
The pain of
Being born and
Of being
A slave
Or to choose
The suffering
Of one
That struggles
To be free
And we
Who know
There is no place
Where we
Will ever be
Entirely
Happy and free
It is enough
And more
I stand
A brightly burning flame
Amongst the stars:
Hineni, hineni;
I'm ready, my lord.
This is the concluding part of Sefirah – Canto for David.
Read Part IX of Sefirah – Canto for David:
The Masters
Surely it is a journey of a thousand steps...That leads over the Mountains of Deceit Down through the Gorge of Avarice
Further reading (and listening):
The Fly by William Blake
Comments & analysis: Little Fly, / Thy summer's play / My thoughtless hand / Has brushed away. / Am not I / A f
Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
Authoritative information about the hymn text Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound), with lyrics, MIDI files, PDF files, printable scores, audio recordings, piano resources, and products for worship planners.
Exodus 3:14 - Moses at the Burning Bush
God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'
September 1, 1939
September 1, 1939 - I sit in one of the dives
