Before the Trumpets Come
by dbreeden
1.
out by the gate
is the both
and the /and
the stone waiting
as people circle
circle
you there
you there
and your thoughts
and Lot’s wife too
incongruous as other
pillars of the community
stiff in their probity
2.
a cat waits too
crouching taut as bird
songs taunt from branches
too far to jump
one woman turns
the crank on a jack
in the box
It makes her smile
it makes her wince
it will jump maybe
3.
out at the gate
lepers expect
and restive guards
and and/both
waits too
and the walls
wall along
incongruously
stiff in their probity
4.
something just may
happen this time
some basket drop
from some window
just long enough
to take the spies away
5.
just outside
Jericho the stones
wait to say
you there
you are not
your thoughts
incongruously
