Burning
Bush
Moses
saw that the bush was on fire but did not burn up...
God said take off your sandals...
Exodus 3: 2,5
...not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land...
Deuteronomy 1:34
Was the
divine fire that cold when Moses was consumed by Israel,
his desired but not to be bride, virginal in a flickering orange gown?
And was that barefoot groom doomed to lead her down the aisle to the
altar,
only to be denied seeing her part her veil because of a human failure
of faith?
Or was
the bush a standard tacky prop for a vaudevillian's magic act,
its unscorched stem really a crumbling wick of a Siren's candle
that led pilgrims down dead end paths?
And when the flame was finally doused was the grotto darker than before,
with ashes burning newly blinded eyes to tears?
Copyright © 2000 Richard Fein
