A Land Forever Lost (To Me)

*dedicated to Saint Jeremiah, a true man of God. Rest in Peace, homie, but for real I know youz up in Heaven with God and the community of Saints, so watch over me and this poem, son. I salute you son, the quintessential fallen prophetic soldier!

/////They also led away all those whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan—the men, the women, the children and the king’s daughters. And they took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah along with them. So they entered Egypt in disobedience to the LORD and went as far as Tahpanhes. – (Jeremiah 43:6-7)////////

--------------------/A Land Forever Lost (To Me); Jeremiah's Last Thoughts Upon Leaving For Egypt



Sentimentality is the worst of all the emotions
because it binds you to a time and to a space you
cant completely detach yourself from
or subliminally recurring dreams
sometimes waking fully conscious memories
of vividly green pastures and gentle sheep and goats
fawning over you as you fed them
cupping your hands and drinking from cool streams after
a strenuous day of play. getting your hair wet
stealing out the temple early for "sinister" adolescent escapades
cherished Judah, exquisite land - forever
...your pulse is the beating of my heart
despite the stocks, despite Pashhur and the beatings
attempts on my life masterminded by my own brothers,
and the the cistern of Malkijah, my proposed untimely makeshift grave
emblematic of a land falling that was not meant to fall
corrupt but its founding intent was always purity
a land sacrilegious but destined to be sacrosanct
in captivity now but desperately yearning to be free
a metaphor for every Hebrew frail but never weak and always hopeful
and you often wonder why people walk away from good things
inexplicably
why bad people do iniquitous things to good people
(to a Good God)
and on the precipice of victory why some men are determined
to make themselves fail
or why the most ruthless mercenaries we face are often
those plaguing thoughts, those haunting doubts
deep within (us);
so when the owls of Anathoth sing you try to remember
which melody to syncopate and which one to leave
unaltered
as the wind blows you dance your
last dance with the oscillating tree limbs and savor
the smell of Hebrew food one last time
wishing you could just leave indifferent
without the anxiety
and be at peace with decisions made for you
but this is the wrong time, the wrong move
an exodus never planned for
and almost instinctively you know
it's the last move you’ll ever make
in tears



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Jeremiah 44:15-19; 24-28
Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present—a large assembly—and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah, "We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD! We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.” The women added, "When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we were making cakes impressed with her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?" Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including the women, "Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah in Egypt. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You and your wives have done what you said you would do when you promised, 'We will certainly carry out the vows we made to burn incense and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven.' "Go ahead then, do what you promised! Keep your vows! But hear the word of the LORD, all you Jews living in Egypt: 'I swear by my great name,’ says the LORD, 'that no one from Judah living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name or swear, "As surely as the Sovereign LORD lives." For I am watching over them for harm, not for good; the Jews in Egypt will perish by sword and famine until they are all destroyed. Those who escape the sword and return to the land of Judah from Egypt will be very few. Then the whole remnant of Judah who came to live in Egypt will know whose word will stand—mine or theirs.