Exile

 

Exile

This day, seven and more centuries ago,

Not fourscore years since the Magna Carta,

Longshanks issued his “Edict of Expulsion”,

To exile, once more, the Israelites,

Degraded by infantile blood libel

And yellow badges of two tablets joined,

Symbolising the sacred stones,

Blood covenant, hallowed in a gilded box,

Tabernacled during the desert exodus

But lost, just as its successor,

Articulated on the mount,

Anticipated in the upstairs room,

Authorised at Golgotha:

See, now, Missouri Man barefoot,

Astride his treasured, tainted temple,

His wintry palace built on broken bones,

Assault rifle cradled across his paunch,

Disgorging the displaced untrespassing

Multitudes from his specious eden,

Through the gates they entered by,

Still standing there, unbroken.

 

Steven Lang

Steve Lang has work in Plum Tree Tavern, Grand Little Things, Indian Periodical and Ariel Chart. His poem "Raphael" was nominated for the 2020 Pushcart Prize for Poetry by this journal.