Tale Of Two Tables

An old poem, Cleft Of The Rock, from my musical website.

two tables
set up in the waiting banquet hall of mercy
down the river road beit-chanun
the reaper comes to call, storming the barrier
as some blast of breath curls down the line that flies
to the mystery gathering
unaware, yet directed thought bare to the safe place
outside, set aside
without gazing, in it, without looking back
a patchy shed of structure encloses the mind
on the day of vengence
bones of dead evidence peek inside, breathless
without invitation, without support, emptyhanded
without negotiation, annihilation operators
burst from the vacuum in our defense
reclaiming the devil's devastating due
saying return din to sender
cut from the imagination neither here nor there
in the twilight zone shared between dreamers
snapping asherah trees brittle as thirstless dry twigs
and sag rosh goes up in unstoppable flames
in the town without justice
justice comes acalling