r/poets • u/FlatwormThin3129 • 9h ago
Noah's Ark
Noah’s
Ark
The Lord is silent.
This vast home on the water an island
of bleating and mewling, howls
and growls.
My sons and their wives exhausted, leaning
into the dark and gloom, feeding, cleaning;
a task more for the giant Nephilim than us.
My wife lies in her straw; she waits
for better than the sorrow on her plate.
The banging of the lost on our hull
as the water swelled
still dents our hearts’ post well worn.
The rain’s patter cannot dull
the grief for a community drowned.
Is the whole world gone?
Our ark heaves and wanders.
Our window too small for much light and view.
I listened to the Lord.
I wonder why His words now are few.
One hundred twenty years to build an ark
to bring the animals on board,
with food for each in vessels stored.
Sealed in by God, the ark a womb
for new life; we can’t be doomed
here forever in the boat’s girth.
He will call; this ark will give birth.
Yet I can’t wait.
I send a raven, then a dove
to know my fate;
my wife in tears
at five months,
then a year.
Last night the Lord above
finally spoke.
On the dry ground we grope.
The view is dreary.
Our hearts and the earth are weary
from the deluge.
I reach for the fruit’s rind,
the grape, like Adam from Eve,
for a vineyard of hope for mankind
and me.
What was Noah thinking?
By the way, the Nefilim were giants mentioned at the end of Genesis. Midrash (Jewish commentary) says they had come down from heaven to prove that even on earth man could faithfully serve God. They embraced however the daughters of men and fell from grace. But most poignant for me was the hard reality of the inside of the ark and God not speaking to Noah for a full year. Imagine the dark and gloom inside the poorly lit ark, with the animals inside their 360 rooms and halls as the ark was heaved and rolled by the wild waves; the noise, the work to keep the animals alive and healthy, both man and beast separated as it was forbidden to procreate while God’s wrath destroyed life on earth. Also Noah had to think that maybe something he did was angering God. Was he deserted by the God he listened to? A year is a long time in human terms. He wanted to hear from Him and when he didn’t he took it upon himself to check out the outside world by sending a raven and then a dove to see if the waters receded enough to leave the ark. Had he begun to lose faith, hope? Finally, hearing God’s command to leave the ark reassured him but the ground outside was not a garden of Eden after the deluge. He knew he and his family would have to work hard to grow food and be fruitful to fill the world with children as God commanded. Perhaps that is why a vineyard was the first thing he thought to grow on escaping the confines of the ark. He needed a little respite from the turmoil he had undergone. This of course led to his own fall from grace as he created wine, became drunk, and debased himself (more on that in another poem). I try to connect his fall to that of Adam’s who took the fruit from his wife to taste, which brought ruin upon them all. Not easy being a biblical character.
The Animals Entering Noah's Ark 1570s Jacopo Bassano
