Come together that I may tell you what is to befall you in days to come.[1]
You should have known. The ladder can be
ascended by the wounded. You who had seen
the intersection of heaven and earth
could not discern: your heirs were not
prisoners of your thoughtless parenting.
A pity. You thought you knew your sons,
Jacob, but on your deathbed, when you tried
to see their destiny, you looked backwards.
We limp in your footsteps, Zeide. We each
cross our own river. Others
see the purity of our souls, and we
see theirs, and they see that we
see their purity, and we see
that they see ours, and then, mysteriously,
the One who supports those who fall
has us each recognize our reflection
in the eyes of another.
We who massacre
our enemies while they sleep, we who sell
our brothers into slavery, we
who, once enslaved, reduce whole nations
into servitude, we, too,
can stumble unforeseen.
[1] Genesis 49:1.
