Noah

By Dan Phillips

What did you do, Noah,
When the Call came?
Did you joke with God
Or become quietly Convinced
That God wanted you to save some
Out of destroyed all?
Did you decide not to include Unicorns
Not knowing what this would mean
Because you had never been to a Holocaust
BEFORE?
Did you ever come to hate the smell
Of cut Gopher wood
Or tire of splinters and animal crap?
Did you study veterinary medicine or carpentry first
AFTER
The Call?
(Did you think to invent umbrellas?)
When the Rain started to fall
Did you catch it in your hand wondering
Or marvel at the smell of water on dust
UNTIL
God hauled you into the Ark
And slammed the door in disgust!

How big is a Cubit
When you are floating
On more water than you knew existed?
Or how
OFTEN
Did your sons ask
“When do we get there
And what will There look like?”
NOW
We ask because
When the water went down
Your world was underneath,
Ready for you.
But since GOD rainbow-promised,
Not to do the flood again
We worry what we will Find
WHEN
We send out doves
And come to rest.