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At King David's Tomb

free verse

By Randy BakerPublished 4 months ago 1 min read
image generated by author using Midjourney

For a few shekels

the rabbi would light a candle

and offer a prayer of peace,

the exotic Hebrew phrases

bouncing softly off ancient stone walls

and pictures of stern men

shrouded in black robes and flowing beards.

.

I tossed my coins into the basket;

I, a gentile man, a military man

raised in the bosom of the Baptist church.

With eyes closed, I absorbed the words.

He could have been saying anything

for all my alien ears could fathom,

but everything sounds sacred in Jerusalem.

.

Tendrils of smoke carried my prayer

on its ascent to heaven.

I, indeed, felt at peace; felt a kinship

with David, his bones somewhere below,

dissolved into the dust. The Beloved of God,

King David; warrior, poet, sinner.

A Man After God’s Heart. A man like me.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Author's Note: This poem was first published in the chapbook, Beyond the Horizon: Journeys in Poetry and Prose, 2010]

Free Verse

About the Creator

Randy Baker

Poet, author, essayist.

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Comments (2)

  • Mohammed Darasi4 months ago

    It's great how despite the difference in religion, a place of prayer always has this serenity about it, and you related that really well here 😊

  • Lindsay Sfara4 months ago

    This is heartwarming, and I really felt the spiritual presence and love in the writing. I love this, Randy!

Randy BakerWritten by Randy Baker

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