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This poem takes its inspiration
from the story of Abraham,

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who waited a long time for the
fulfillment of God's promise

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to him, a son through
his wife Sarah.

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And then he was told he
had to give up Isaac, take

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him and sacrifice him.

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So this is sort of in
the voice of Abraham

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at that moment where
he draws back his hand

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and is ready to
make the sacrifice.

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This is called "Bound Isaac.

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Late, the hour he came to
me, a failing, and had nobody

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assumed I would have nobody,
now and forever, amen.

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He was an agreeable boy,
straight toothed, fair,

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a glinting countenance.

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As the waiting had been
a test, as the clarity

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of irrefutable heaven
had been withheld.

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And had nobody arrived
in those last months,

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this little pinch of salt and
this cold dwelling were all.

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Then the charge of my
soul would be lost,

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and my voice, too,
pass into dust.

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And I would say,
great is the dust.

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Take me into the dark, into
the dark and lovely void.

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Having no fortune
to wager, I'd wager.

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Then, given the increase,
then, given the seed and limb,

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what demand it were to
accept such intimacy.

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The worse to wave,
chest of bronze,

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the lift and fall
of his likeness,

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his lips, his uncovered loins.

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The incense of newly turned
fields was everywhere,

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the dew upon recent blades.

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And I perceived
the god of abandon.

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Tense in the space between
his passive body, his body,

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and the boundless reach.

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