Always A Balm In Gilead - (As Gilead)

------------/1 Kings and Things Chapter 4: Strong Memories. Solomon's Words To Ben-Geber When Choosing Him As An Officer

We used to run from whips
in Egypt, where flies slept on our children's faces
but in Canaan we decided,
no son of Isaac would ever flee again
no son of Jacob would ever again sleep in the bosom of disgrace nightly
so we unsheathed our swords
so we faced all of our fears
we unmercifully, unremittingly, undaunted upended the unjust
useless King of Aram, Eglob of Moab, Jabin and Sisera...
the Ammonites and the Philistines
we purged the guilt of the piercing shrills of our enemies
stabbed
with those of our cousins starving of hunger
dying with their eyes opened tongues
hanging
yet we could not abandon the principle Mercy set before us
razing the cities of the rebellious refuse ravaging
the mind of Pharaoh with ten plagues before pity could placate
wrath, waves waylaying wretched wickedness
crashing over his craven calls for a cease
to the same cruelty his crimes against us we bore for hundreds of years;
so we resolved to repudiate the restlessness of the refugees
providing in Gilead what we never had, a refuge
a respite from the pressures of paranoid living we always had
amnesty and dignity for those with charges of dubitable malfeasance
fairness for the accused, a community for outliers, lepers and
the misunderstood mourning. solace, solitude and serenity
for the suffering
simply a place to wander when life went awry
and a perpetual hope to even the most severely despondent
(our plight before God sent us Moses)
but in lieu of all this - to those who persist in accosting, standing in our way
and dare evoke recollections of our slavery
or so much as raise a shackle in our direction -
cynically honoring the diabolical dastardly deeds done against us
we keep and hold our honor and render hallowed homage to Bashan
on our mantels, giant skulls
of Argob
seared in our minds, the mighty fallen of Og
sixty great cities, with walls of impossibility decked with bronze bars
of the impassable, implausible:
mighty majestic malefic weapons meant for our demise
six men long, three men wide. skeletons thick as temple pillars.
the arrogant lifeless before the humble
Goliath slain before a shepherd boy making merry
a memento always,
a presently burning flame in the temple of memory
that size, strength, numbers have no bearing on the outcome of war
but rather faith
that despite dung threatening disease on our children, legacy et al
YHWH watches
YHWH whispers: I bring
"wonders, wrath"
"only be strong," Ben-Geber
Be strong.
Your food will remind my entire household of this, [of Gilead and Bashan
Dove and Raven, Lamb and the Lion, a scarred past and a future balm
of despair rescued by dreams realized and pleas heeded]
as long as I live
love
and lead


--------1 Kings 4:7,13--
Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year....Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (he had the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars);