SOLOMON'S SWORD

Jochebed, daughter of the priestly tribe,

Was married off to her her nephew in a strange, incestuous land,

Where Pharaoh's sword dripped crimson

With the lifeblood of Hebrew boys.

She waterproofed papyrus with black pitch

Keeping the chaos of the Nile at bay

And floated her precious son in a hopeful current

While crocodiles and immense hippos lurked beneath the surface

Menacing her ark-boat.

The boy's sister kept watch on the bank

Conspiring with the Almighty

As an Egyptian princess adopted the babe

But he drifted back to his mother's breasts.

Truly, Jochebed would raise up the Three-

Moses, Aaron, and Miriam-

To turn the tables on Egypt's Empire.

The Angel Sword striking Pharaoh's firstborn.

The chaotic, swirling foam of the Red Sea

Drowning his army and setting the Israelites free.

Marta stuffed a change of clothes into a black backpack.

There was little room left for her hopes and dreams for her son.

She looked to the volcanic mountains and kept silent...

Memories of her violent assault threatened to erupt,

But she beheld the precious result of the rape

and kissed Luis goodbye on the forehead,

Knowing the time is NOW

Before the gang conscripted him into living by the sword.

She stuffed a fist full of bills into the hand of a coyote.

All the while praying for a conspiracy of guardian angels

As the boy crossed the chaotic ocean of desert

In his journey to the Promised Land.

Teenage Mary placed her newborn in an animal trough

On a very chaotic night in Bethlehem

Never imagining His body would become bread,

His blood wine.

Eight days later she eyed the stones of the Temple,

Imagining them hurdled at her vulnerable body

If anyone calculated the time of her son's birth,

Considering her marriage celebration

And found the math wanting...

The babe's cries interrupted her thoughts

As the circumcision knife glinted red blood in the sun

And Simeon prophesied a larger sword piercing her heart-

Long before a sword pierced Jesus's side

And a middle-aged Mary beheld an empty tomb.

Kaitlyn was pregnant and lost in a chaotic haze of drug abuse

When the sword of the law came down on her,

She gave birth to a son already addicted.

The hospital put a bracelet on William's tiny wrist

And a CO put an ankle bracelet on his Mom

While CYS arrived and carried her baby boy away.

Kaitlyn held out empty arms every night

And prayed for divine conspiracy leaks..

For some tidbit of news about William.

She wondered if she dare hope..

To dream of holding him again

But released him to a foster family

As she laid her head on a tear-stained pillow.

Deborah has an adult daughter and two grown sons,

But she hasn't seen Cody in over a year.

He disappeared into the chaotic mist

Of rumor and heresay.

"It's not like him to not reach out to me.

We were very close, " Deborah said.

Hope grew dimmer as the months passed

The police saw no credible leads.

She prayed for a Divine conspiracy of justice

To find her some closure.

Long swords and dissecting knives,

Swords of truth and justice,

Knives dividing soul from spirit,

Sinew from bones..

Judgments no mortal dare make.

Yet, for Jochebed, Marta, Mary,

Kaitlyn and Deborah,

Solomon's sword tells of motherhood

In the aching of empty arms.