Some poems based on the book of Job.
The First Wife
I had heard the admonitions against
charm and beauty. Thankfully having no great surplus
of either, I could settle for fear instead.
Of the Lord, yes, but also of my betrothed,
impending marriage, childbirth.
I must have been doing something right.
For years, we had goats and sheep,
tents and wine and servants. My husband
said he spoke with the Lord, which suited me well.
He left me alone after those lengthy conversations.
Then, inexorably, I suppose, things went awry.
First the cattle died, and then my husband's illness.
We lost everything in some bet I did not understand.
When our last child died,
a daughter I loved
and her father did not notice,
I asked him. What is the point
of speaking with the Lord
if he will not listen?
He could not answer.
The Second Wife.
There was gossip, of course.
Afterall, he had been married before,
and wife number one was gone in a flash.
All the kids too, which is a little creepy
when you stop to think about it.
Miriam said his wife was that pillar of salt,
way out in the wilderness.
She's so stupid.
Everyone knows it's way older than that.
Deborah said he smothered her.
Judith, that she died in childbirth.
I think she left. Just one day,
put out the cookfire and walked away.
Mother objects, of course.
Father tries to act pleased, but isn't.
Me? Well, he isn't as old as some I've seen.
He was wealthy once, and may be again.
And, anyway, Benjamin is with Miriam now.
So what does it really matter anyway?
The Response
I hate this story. One of those that takes on
a life of its own. Like when you were young
and accidentally knocked your friend off her bicycle.
And she had some bad injuries, and was in the hospital for a time.
Now, among friends, it’s always retold. And somehow,
you’ve become the antagonist of the whole piece.
Or, worse, you’re some idiot bumbling along, making messes
without realizing what you’re doing. All I can say
is that there was no bet. I wouldn’t do that,
and that other guy wasn’t even around that day.
Look, I could have stopped it, I know.
But in situations like this, my approach
has always been non-involvement.
Unpopular, I know, but people have to learn
that I’m not just here to make everything easy for them.
And sure, that second girl didn’t know what she was getting into.
But I’ve always said, the young need to learn from their own mistakes.
I’ve been trying to teach them that forever.
Ever since that first pair climbed the fence into my backyard
and started stealing apples from my favorite tree.
