Jonah Sees Light

by 小小樵

I saw a face by my face
reflected in the water
of the ditch by the roadside.
It was a damp and dark place

like the maw of Jonah's whale.
Cars raced back and forth above.
I laid for three days and nights,
writhing like fish in the pails

in the sailors' frightened hands
as they bailed the tilting boat.
Jonah stood grim, like tombstones,
atoning. He could withstand

doubt that inside hid and slept,
but not the death of his crew.
The whale was always hiding;
waiting until Jonah leapt.

When I rose the sun shot rays;
I faced it and asked its name,
but it gave me no reply,
silent as skies on Sunday.

My car, crumpled in a tree,
looked like a burrowing worm.
The day was sweltering, and
the road stretched away from me.

War had come to Nineveh,
and Jonah said it was so.
But they persisted in peace
regardless of what he said.

To my left was a chapel
and ahead was the barracks.
Like pieces on a chessboard
they wanted pawns to grapple.

From them both I turned away
neither soldier nor zealot.
On my mind were food and rest

and a place to get a shave.

1/2014