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as the years had come and gone
since selling Joseph like a pawn
Judah'd had a lot of time
to contemplate his clever crime
but watching how his father grieved
had been much worse than he'd conceived
it wore him down, right to the bone
he reaped much more than he had sown
until at last, a broken man,
he lived a different master plan:
a willingness to be the slave
to sacrifice, and thus to save
redemption needn't seem so strange
even dirty hearts can change
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Oh, the dreams! The bowing down!
The humbled faces on the ground!
A jealous sibling's lightning rod
(those dreams) but they had come from God!
He knew the visions would be told;
He knew that Joseph would be sold;
He saw a famine on the way
and hatched a plan to save the day.
Egypt thought they'd bought a mule,
but Joseph had been sent to rule.
Joseph's God is your God, too.
He has a future planned for you:
Never doubt it's bright and beaming—
What new dreams have you been dreaming?
Sonnet: A poem consisting of 14 lines with a particular rhyming scheme.
This is the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were proud, had plenty to eat, and enjoyed peace and prosperity; but she didn't help the poor and the needy. They became haughty and did detestable things in front of me, and I turned away from them as soon as I saw it. —Ezekiel 16:49-50
Sodom was destined to go up in smoke.
Wickedness was its perpetual clime.
Evil, like tinder, was ripe for a stoke:
It would ignite in a matter of time.
Greed ripened into perversion untold.
Townsfolk adopted the tricks of the shrike,
Burning with passions and lust uncontrolled,
Raping the wallet and person alike.
Lot was not righteous, not even a lick,
But he was willing to run for his life—
Run from the evil that threatened to stick.
Will we be like him, or more like his wife?
Greed dug its claws in and caused her to halt,
Turning her into a pillar of salt.
Sonnet: A poem consisting of 14 lines with a particular rhyming scheme.
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You promised Abraham blessings galore,
Progeny more than the sand on the shore.
Still, he was worried he might come across
Someone with power to turn gain to loss.
So he embarked on a self-serving plan:
Impersonating an unmarried man.
I know I'm prone to a similar skew,
Trying to pull off what you said you'd do.
It shouldn't matter if life remains rough.
All of your promises should be enough.
I should be willing to stay on my knees
And let you work out your plan as you please.
Help me to trust you beyond what I see
And not to fear what the outcome will be.
Sonnet: A poem consisting of 14 lines with a particular rhyming scheme.
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As soon as eyes were opened, there was shame,
And fig's-leaf clothing could not quell the fear.
In bushes, hiding, fear gave way to blame
That promised to unravel all things dear.
To lose our paradise would be our gain,
Since sin destroys if it is left unchecked.
But we could not perceive the gift in pain:
God drove us out in order to protect,
While promising we'd one day see that Tree
Within a heav'nly garden where we'd thrive.
And this, his brilliant plan to make us free:
Another firstborn Adam would arrive
To fight the snake—to love, to bleed, to cry,
So we could be reclaimed and never die.
Sonnet: A poem consisting of 14 lines with a particular rhyming scheme.
