Ehud’s Solid Rhetoric
(Left-handed judge who killed Fat King
Eglon)
Somehow it seems we
have reversed our roles.
I was to speak for
you in judgment, Lord,
In Eglon’s case, yet
now must plead my own
Which I presume
cannot be severed from
The former. I shall, therefore, make my case
By how I made your
own where you required
More rhetoric than
mortals could possess.
With words more
flawed and limited than yours,
My noises, meanings,
grammars would blaspheme
Should they pretend
to speak as you would do.
With proper language
absent for the task,
I would but mock
ineffability
Were I to mouth in
any way the scope
Or purpose of such sacred
agency.
Instead I thus used
your own elements.
My iron blade made your point. Although his fat
Made heavy armor, it
did not deflect
But swallowed up the
knife. His fatty folds
Released a stench
that summarized him well,
That underscored
your judgment as he fell,
And yet misled his
guards by such a smell.*
Although the
spectacle was horrid, it
Avoided sacrilege of
words not fit
For godhead or good
agents serving it.
*They thought Eglon was relieving himself thereby giving Ehud more time to escape.
Elisha’s Apology
I watched Elijah leave in
fiery flight.
The sound of
nothingness roared in my ears.
I was alone. I trembled, was in tears.
I only had his cloak
to calm my fears
As I stepped in to bear bare heaven's light.
Persuasion's
manifold. Elijah thought
The fastest and the
surest lesson taught
Was by the rod. I tried another way:
Example of good deeds can also sway.
I salted down the
spring of Jericho
And caused pure
waters once again to flow.
I turned the poison
gourds into a soup
That safely fed a
desperate, hungry group.
I made the axe-head
float back to the top
Of that deep Jordan
where they’d let it drop.
I took a little bit
of barley bread
And made a feast
where many mouths were fed.
I filled a widow's
empty jars so she
Could pay her debts
and set her children free.
I cured the awful
curse of leprosy,
And moved men with
my skills of prophecy.
Example and good deeds were rhetoric
That served me better than Elijah's stick,
And though no fiery chariot brings me
I trust the light I carry shines on me.
Example and good deeds were rhetoric
That served me better than Elijah's stick,
And though no fiery chariot brings me
I trust the light I carry shines on me.
Jonah’s
Defense
With just eight words* I brought a city round.
In rhetoric’s annals
nowhere else is found
A rival. I will move the heavens, too,
And once again will keep my phrases few.
And once again will keep my phrases few.
I erred once I admit--although I should
Feel gross aversion
handling pagan things.
Aversion keeps good order. God would not
Condemn disgust
toward anything unclean.
Instead he counseled that sometimes one should
Endure the filth he'd have one remedy.
Thus, for two reasons he unleashed the whale:
To right my course and in its belly train
Me for the stench ahead. (I spent three days
Instead he counseled that sometimes one should
Endure the filth he'd have one remedy.
Thus, for two reasons he unleashed the whale:
To right my course and in its belly train
Me for the stench ahead. (I spent three days
Within its filthy
gut till I was heaved
A chunk of living
vomit on the shore.)
I made my way to
Nineveh and gave
The famous speech. I then withdrew to watch
The consequence. Beyond doubt I'm devout
To take a
journey here, too, past the bounds
Of any maps or terms
I’ve known. I've come
(Although in fear) because God called. I would
Give that as further
proof of Jonah’s good.
*"Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"
*"Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"
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