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Poem: Odyssey

Odyssey

By Patrick T. Reardon

.

Face of God, name

of God, child death

in every home,

Egyptian, Israelite, Canaanite

— let people go —

sea split, walled water, 

tabernacle and gold god, 

“The Parting of the Red Sea” by William Blake

frogs, lice, hail,

locusts, boils,

blood, blood, blood,

ten commands, 

doorposts, manna,

rock water, 

hard heart,

seabed, stiff neck, 

wilderness, mountaintop, 

light rays, cloud,

fire, treaty 

— hold still

and see salvation —

flight, arrival, exile, 

name of God, face

of God, 

— wander alpha to omega, 

from end to start, 

from freedom to slavery 

and back —

breathe, breathe,

breathe,

milk-honey land, 

pox, pox, pox, 

slaves, victims,

bodies, 

new world, new nation, 

manifest, faith, 

creation,

garden,

empty, open.

.

And, then,

again.

Patrick T. Reardon

6.16.22

This poem originally appeared in The Write Journal, Issue 46, February 21.

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