Owl of the Desert
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​


Bridegroom

     The Lord met Moses
     and sought to kill him.

 
     Then Moses’ wife, Zipporah
     took a sharp stone,
     and cut off the foreskin
     of her son, and cast it at his feet
     and said, Surely thou art
     a bridegroom of blood
     to me.

 
     So he let him go:
     then she said,
     A bloody husband
     thou art.

 
         ―  Exodus 4:24-26
  
Between God and man, this forgotten daughter of Jethro,
with needle breasts a Urim Thummim of sharpened seer stone
and Baptist milk coarse as camel water, a dove sent to overthrow
the priesthood of Min. Turning toward God, her scarab breastbone
etched in Sinai’s silence and the consummation of flint and Pharaoh,
she grasps his Uraeus in her rose-stained hand and cuts and cuts. Atone
we must the bride price paid by Egypt’s firstborn sons, parting their foreskin
with upraised arms, dividing Red Sea from Promised Lands. Nile’s seed 
shall again overflow with rods of rainwater mocking the Desert of Zin.
Zipporah, my wife, apply honey to this wound, this place. Intercede
my Mashhit angel, and restore Maat’s myrrh and bitter cinnamon:
reclaim Eden’s daughters who prophesied and long ago decreed
Earth’s baptism shall recede, and reveal wisdom lost by flood―
My God, my God, will you slay me now I’ve tasted Your blood? 
Home
© COPYRIGHT 2019 - 2025
  • Home
  • Poetry
    • Fleeing Egypt >
      • Tower of Babel
      • The Orchard
      • Tithing Settlement
      • Chastity for Churches
      • Sign
      • Cleaning House
      • Elijah
      • Rulers of Sodom
      • Beware
      • Two Churches
      • Beginning At My Sanctuary
      • Toll Road
      • Get it Strait
      • Corporation Sole
      • The Religion of the Circle R
      • Fig Tree
      • Eve
      • New Jerusalem
      • Shemlon's Shore
    • Ascending Sinai >
      • Ark
      • Sin of the Calf
      • An Idol Observation
      • Dew from Heaven
      • I love you, Elder Holland
      • Easter
      • How Sweet
      • Haiku
      • The Barn
      • Patron Saint
      • A Conversation with Brigham Young
      • Mine Testimony
      • The Meadow
      • The Gardens
      • Ice Fishing
      • Without End
      • Forest
      • Continental Divide
      • A Great Sacrifice
    • Promised Land >
      • Lanolin
      • Zion
      • Wisdom
      • Take Up Your Cross
      • Was the Sun the Same
      • Plain and Precious
      • Bridegroom
      • Faith
      • Amos
      • But First
      • Wax
      • Parable of the Piano
      • Repentance
      • Wake Up, Child
      • Cold Storage
      • Covered Wagon
      • Multiply and Replenish
      • Rollercoaster
      • The Baptist
    • Seven Stations of the Cross >
      • Jesus Condemned to Die >
        • Life Signs
        • Fashionable Religion
        • Tithing Declaration
        • A Pretty Important Detail
        • Jesus is All
        • Salt Lake Temple
        • Zion in the Lion's Den
        • High Noon
        • Bookmark
      • Jesus Stumbles and Falls >
        • Unveil
        • But Faith
        • Sifting
        • The Ballerina
        • Credit Declined
        • Prayer Circles
        • Work Out Your Salvation
        • Lovebirds
        • Unrequited
      • Simon of Cyrene Bears the Cross >
        • Proxy
        • Chartres
        • Like the Nile
        • Artificial Intelligence
        • Not Born
        • Parable of the Crossing
      • Women of Jerusalem Weep >
        • With A Price
        • Fields of Asphodel
        • Night
        • Desert Rose
        • Goodbye
        • Spring Snow
      • Jesus Stripped of His Garment >
        • Love Letter
        • I am disquieted
        • Dream
        • Noah's Wife
        • Parable of the Five Sons
        • Eggshell
      • Jesus Nailed to the Cross
      • Burial and Resurrection
  • Blog
    • Previous Posts >
      • 2025 Posts
      • 2024 Posts
      • 2023 Posts
      • 2022 Posts
      • 2021 Posts
      • 2020 Posts
  • About
  • Contact