Poems from the 12-Hour Couplets Contest: The Task, Liv Ross

Liv is an urban monk, a poet, a storyteller, and a student of Christian spirituality. When she’s not writing, Liv practices gardening, pipe-smoking, leather-working, and mischief.

The Task

While all creation held its breath,

The young man’s hitched inside his chest.

The knife raised up. The old man’s hand

Stopped at its zenith, shaking and

After a prayer, he let it fall

While listening for some new call.

No god worth following would ask

Of him this vile and senseless task.

Better to keep the gods of home

Than with a faithless god to roam.

‘I thought you different,’ Abram prayed,

Then turned to find the ram arrayed.


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