Ezra

We read Ezra today.
What a fabulous book!

All the tattling letters.
The various potentates
Issuing opposing orders.
The reference to prophets,
Haggai and Zechariah.

The ancient men weeping
At the foundation laid,
Who saw the former
In its glory, their tears
With the young men’s
Shouts of joy. A tumult.

Subtle and overt threats;
How to transport
Valuables through enemy land
Without an armed guard;
The blank checks for supplies;
Genealogies settled by casting lot.

It felt like reading a novel.
Except it was history,
Compelling and real.