Me On Mount Sinai

* Moses pray for me

+------------Me On Mount Sinai: Moses’ Thoughts Before Traveling Up Mount Sinai In Front of All Of Israel

A cloud by day and fire by
night are, at times, barely enough
signs of heavenly solidarity
to stem the neuroses of a people
still tending to slave scabs on their backs
borne of whips, clefts on either side of
their faces from gouged eyes for poor production,
en masse. A people who still startle
at the faintest whisper of a child nursed
whilst they sleep in their tents, ghosts of
the firstborn dead in Egypt
now come to claim their kin as restitution.
The constellations, they tell me,
were much brighter in Egypt, the food
more succulent, the women’s
eyes there more alluring, adorned with
malachite and black kohl.
They selectively recall that they never
thirsted there, and while stricken with
delusory angst, sing to me and Aaron
of Pharaoh’s Well
that all Hebrews drew water from in
buckets of gold. This well and the buckets
never existed.
However as of late I too am succumbing,
partially, to this infectious and contagious unbelief:
in my dreams
scorpions incessantly pinching me,
snakes wrapping themselves around my neck   
impel me to resist and shriek wildly in
impassioned defense, yet when I wake
drenched in sweat, silver chariots drowning in
the Red Sea, my wife sobs- inconsolably
terrified. Under her breath, quivering, hymns once
promulgated by the Queen.
Oh God, please show these people that you burn
for Hebrew emancipation, you too salivate
at the thought of Milk and Honey.
Let fire envelope a mountain in Sinai,
peals of thunder accompanied by a trembling
violent earth,
the smoke and ashes thereof like
the speech of a barbarous, indignant dragon
eulogizing Pharaoh forever, yellow eyes glazed
indifferent to death, indomitable tail,
broad webbed wings.   
Convince these people that before us lies
not a jaunt but a journey, but a journey
we do not travel alone. Speak....
because the people need to hear you still
love them.
That you still love me.
I need to know that you still love me.


----------------------Exodus 19:1-20
In the third month after the people of Israel left Egypt, they came to the Sinai Desert on the same day.   They had left Rephidim and had come to the Sinai Desert. There Israel set up their tents in front of the mountain.  And Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Say this to the house of Jacob and tell the people of Israel:  ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.  Now then, if you will obey My voice and keep My agreement, you will belong to Me from among all nations. For all the earth is Mine.  You will be to Me a nation of religious leaders, a holy nation.’ These are the words you will speak to the people of Israel.” So Moses came and called the leaders of the people. He told them all these words which the Lord had told him.  And all the people answered together and said, “We will do all that the Lord has said!” Then Moses went to tell the Lord what the people had said.  The Lord said to Moses, “See, I will come to you in a thick cloud. So the people may hear when I speak with you, and may believe you forever.” Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said.  The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people. Today and tomorrow set them apart to be holy. Have them wash their clothes.  And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day people will see the Lord come down on Mount Sinai.  Let the people know the places all around that they must not pass. Tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not go up on the mountain or touch any place around it. Whoever touches the mountain will be put to death.  No hand will touch him. But he will be killed with stones or arrows. If he be animal or man, he will not live.’ When a long sound from a horn is heard, they may come up to the mountain.” So Moses went down from the mountain to the people. He set the people apart to be holy, and they washed their clothes.  He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day. Do not go near a woman.” On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning. A cloud covered the mountain, and a very loud horn sounded. All the people among the tents shook with fear.  Then Moses brought the people from among the tents to meet God. They stood at the base of the mountain.  Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord came down upon it in fire. Its smoke went up like the smoke of a stove. And the whole mountain shook.  The sound of the horn became louder and louder. Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder.  Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. The Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up.