ISHMAEL

and other

characters

by

Raymond Sapienza

copyright © 2009, Raymond Sapienza

Pittsburgh, PA

all rights reserved

Contents

Ishmael 6

Nebuchadnezzar 8

Lamech 10

Jubal 11

Jezebel 12

Judas 14

Pilate 16

Potiphar 18

Cain 20

Also by Raymond Sapienza:

Tumbled Streams 2007

Troubled Stars 2008

Political Prisoners 2009

Illustrations

Hagar and Ishmael in the Wilderness

Gustave Dore 7

Nebuchadnezzar's degradation

Georges Rochegrosse 9

Jubal playing the harp.

11th c., Caedmon's Metrical

Paraphrase of Scripture History 11

The Death of Jezebel

Gustave Dore 13

The despair of Judas

Edward Armitage 15

Pilate Washes His Hands

James Tissot 17

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife

Guido Reni 19

Cain kills Abel

Gustave Dore 21

Ishmael

Beersheba's sun upon their heads,

The water in the bottle spent,

She laid him down upon a bed

Of stony ground and tears she'd wept.

And from a bow shot's distance cried

With a throat that was parched

and a heart that was rent

"Let me not see my child thus die."

- The wilderness drank in her lament -

But Ishmael's whisper, barely breathed,

Found the ever attentive ear

And the Angel of God to Hagar bequeathed

The promise there was naught to fear.

And of Ishmael came a great nation.

6

Nebuchadnezzar

Soaked with Heaven’s dew by night

Eating grass by day,

Such was Nebuchadnezzar’s plight.

The Lord God has His way.

Who can stay His mighty hand?

Who His purpose sway?

Whilst thou shalt turn to dust oh man

The Lord God has His way.

8

Lamech

The blood of Cain coursing through him,

Having slain for recompense,

Lamech swore his testament:

The initial pleading of self defense.

No man would he answer to,

Nor he, to God, would bow.

The arrogance of Lamech

Swells in men’s hearts even now.

10

Jubal

(the father of all such as handle the harp and organ)

Jubal, son of Lamech, son of Cain:

The first of all to fashion note to chord.

And music since has flowed from age to age

As bearer both of love and of the sword.

11

Jezebel

Jezebel,

daughter of Ethbaal, King of the Zidonians;

Queen of Israel in a wicked time.

In your veins flowed naught

but avarice and murder, till payment for blood

that you’d spilled was required.

No lying in state

for this mistress of evil;

no burial fit for a princess or queen.

Splayed out for dogs, and gnawing for mourning.

Dung in the fields of Jezreel

your last reign.

12

Judas

Many a man has sought for fame

- The timeless recognition of his name -

And many have secured it.

Yet, there is one

Whom, could he choose,

Would gladly now obscure it.

14

15

Pilate

Saying “I am innocent of the blood...”

Pilate took water and washed his hands.

But would that water suffice to cleanse

The soul of such a political man?

Saying “I find no fault in him,”

After scourging, he brought Jesus forth.

But measured against Pilate’s governing need

What was the life of a righteous man worth?

To avoid a tumult, to appease the crowd,

Pilate’s conscience was stultified.

And so this “Jesus which is called Christ”

Was led away to be crucified.

Pilate washed his hands that day,

But could even the purest of water

Cleanse the blood spattered soul of a man

Complicit in the Lamb of God’s slaughter.

16

17

Potiphar

Did shame hold rest from Potiphar’s mind,

Knowing, as he surely knew,

The burden of guilt on his wife should lie

While from Joseph he required its due?

18

19

Cain

Anger and bitterness encompassed.

Sin in doorway did wait.

Jealousy surged from heart to hand

Which raised against brother in hate.

Cursed from earth that drank in blood.

Cursed from fields once loved.

Lost from family, lost from Lord,

To dwell in the land of Nod.

20

About the Author

Raymond Sapienza lives and writes in Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania.

He is married, with two children and a cat.

Ishmael is his fourth collection of poetry.

22