MOSES

Muscle was needed. The throb of thighs,

Shift of feet on the mountainside. Strain

Of gaining the crags of Sinai's summit,

The gentler tops of Horeb, or the heights

Of Pisgah. This was your route of approach

To the nearness marked in advance for you -  

And the friendship. So that rest, peaceful security,

Was something valuable as you were with Jehovah

Since you arrived through harsh experience

But softened since experience with Him, His eagle

Winging to Himself to be through long tramping

More than any other "among His priests".

And only through such experience could you be His people's shepherd,

Leashing their waywardness, cajoling, using your rod -  

Mindful always that it could become a serpent but using it

More as provider of water - till their princes could dig with their staves.

But the desert was not all harshness

Since from its drought songs echoed

As splendid punctuation. While dearth

Parched tongues and the sultriness

Enervated your doctrine bathed

Like the rain, your speech flowed,

A refreshing dew. A gentle smirr

Sprouted the tender herbs,

To make the grasses pullulate

Lush strands skyward -   

Patience, with God, made song.