Classic and Contemporary Poetry
MIDRASH OF THE ABSENT: MESSIAH, by MOSES DE LEON Poet's Biography First Line: The garden has three walls all made of fire Alternate Author Name(s): Moses Ben Shem Tov De Lion Subject(s): Jews; Mysticism - Judaism; Judaism | ||||||||
the Garden has three walls all made of fire an outer wall that holds the righteous of the gentiles a second wall that holds all those who wait upon Messiah who see Messiah once a day on Friday from the time Israel begins its rest all the palaces inside the Garden shake & the inner palace is Messiah's & is called the Bird's Nest & Messiah comes out from there & the tsadikim come out with him & Messiah wears clothes of vengeance for the coming victory of Israel & all come in with him & he comes out there with the Fathers then he stands there in middle of the Garden he stands where the pillar stands there in the middle & he grabs the 4 rings at the 4 corners of the Garden & lifts his voice the dome over the Garden vibrates & the 7 Angels called before him say CHOSEN ONE OF YAH BE STILL FOR THE TIME IS HERE WHEN THE EVIL KINGDOM WILL BE TORN OUT FROM ITS PLACE & they hear a voice out of the synagogues & studyhouses a cry of power AMEN MAY HIS GREAT NAME BE BLEST FOREVER then the Holy-One-Be-Blest shakes all the domes & drops 2 tears into the Great Ocean & the tsadikim come back & Messiah comes back with them to the palace called the Bird's Nest in the Garden on the side of the East Wind there is a palace hidden & shut tight & this one is called the Palace of the Glow this one this palace built "like the pure substance of the heavens" from the walls around it letters burst & sparkle rising & descending flying up from one side coming to rest at the other exchanging places but without confusion & no one can stand beside them for they do not stop their motion not even for a moment & flowers spun from the 4 colors of the glow spark toward the palace on the sabbath Messiah comes there with the Fathers & the letters quiet down the letters speak the letters sing a joyous song but nobody knows what it is & there inside that palace is an opening & there behind the curtain there are images of those killed at Lod & images of the 10 killed by the Kingdom Messiah rises up & enters there & sees those images & lifts his voice & bellows like a lion & the whole Garden shakes & the tsadikim shake & the pillar in the middle of the Garden shakes up & down & 4 Angels of the Wheel are called & catch hold of the 4 rings & the dome is spinning & a voice sounds from the heights & the Holy-One-Be-Blest lets 2 tears fall directly down & the wheels come in to the Messiah & all the Fathers come in through the opening in the Eastern Gate inside that palace & there they see the varying degrees of the tsadikim killed at Lod & the 10 killed by the Kingdom & all stand with Messiah & the wheels lift up & raise them to the King the King of Kings the Holy-One-Be-Blest who swears that he will put on clothes of vengeance he will execute his vengeance on the gentiles for they say "he will judge among the gentiles he will fill the earth with corpses" & they come back to Messiah Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0271, www.cc.press.org | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE RABBI'S SON-IN-LAW by SABINE BARING-GOULD A LITTLE HISTORY by DAVID LEHMAN FOR I WILL CONSIDER YOUR DOG MOLLY by DAVID LEHMAN JEWISH GRAVEYARDS, ITALY by PHILIP LEVINE NATIONAL THOUGHTS by YEHUDA AMICHAI SOUNDS OF THE RESURRECTED DEAD MAN'S FOOTSTEPS (#3): 2. ANGEL ... by MARVIN BELL THE GREAT HOLY ASSEMBLY: THE NAMES by MOSES DE LEON |
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