"Up on Sinai"  

EXODUS POEMS by DOUG TANOURY

CONTENTS (links to individual poems)

"Up on Sinai"
"Molten Calf"
"Blue & Purple & Scarlet Stuff"
"Cherubim Skillfully Worked"
"A Slave's Life"
"Burnt Offering"
"Favor In My Sight"
"The Red Sea Between Us"
"The Pharaoh of My Past"
"The Finger Of God"
"My Brother Aaron"
"The Moses Soliloquy"

And I have answered His call
Been His prophet and been His slave
His will has been my will
And my mouth a holy tabernacle
For His words
 

Upon the mountain top
Beyond the thunder and lightning
Above the flames and smoke
God speaks to me in a low whisper
Carried on the slightest breeze  

His voice is soft like the
Sound of waves on the Nile at night
And His words hushed like the flutter
Of dove's wings and as quiet as raindrops
Striking the surface of the sea
 
And I am brought high on Sinai
Upon the mountain top
To hear the Lord speak
With the low notes of music
From a lute and lyre

"Molten Calf"  

EXODUS POEMS by DOUG TANOURY

CONTENTS (links to individual poems)

"Up on Sinai"
"Molten Calf"
"Blue & Purple & Scarlet Stuff"
"Cherubim Skillfully Worked"
"A Slave's Life"
"Burnt Offering"
"Favor In My Sight"
"The Red Sea Between Us"
"The Pharaoh of My Past"
"The Finger Of God"
"My Brother Aaron"
"The Moses Soliloquy"

This is the god of lawlessness
A god of wantonness
And animal appetites
It is a god of body and hunger
Of longing and wanting
 
That is my comfort
In these wild places and my banner
And standard in the battles
For I have grown weary and restless
In the shadow of this mountain
 
A god of singing and drinking
Of eating and dancing
A god of lewdness and wild gestures
Of revelry and release
In this desert place
 
And awaken my heart to the
Worship of the whim and
The adoration of the urge
In a wasteland so barren
In a world empty of God

"Blue & Purple & Scarlet Stuff"  

EXODUS POEMS by DOUG TANOURY

CONTENTS (links to individual poems)

"Up on Sinai"
"Molten Calf"
"Blue & Purple & Scarlet Stuff"
"Cherubim Skillfully Worked"
"A Slave's Life"
"Burnt Offering"
"Favor In My Sight"
"The Red Sea Between Us"
"The Pharaoh of My Past"
"The Finger Of God"
"My Brother Aaron"
"The Moses Soliloquy"

And I know this for I have seen the fabric
On the shoulders of kings and their young sons
Cut and stitched and fit and formed
Crafted by the fingers of old women
With poor eyes that must hold the garment
To their noses to see their work
 
It is the colors of indigo and lapis
Topaz and garnet for I have seen the fabric
In the tunics of Phoenician princes
And in the capes of the captains of the Hittite hoards
The blues of royal hue in linen finely woven
Entwined and twisted
 
And in the embroidered pomegranates
That rest ripe on the hems of the garments
Of Aaron and his priests as they tend the Arc
Just after sunset under a sky that covers the desert
Like a cloak made with blue and purple
And scarlet stuff

"Cherubim Skillfully Worked"  

EXODUS POEMS by DOUG TANOURY

CONTENTS (links to individual poems)

"Up on Sinai"
"Molten Calf"
"Blue & Purple & Scarlet Stuff"
"Cherubim Skillfully Worked"
"A Slave's Life"
"Burnt Offering"
"Favor In My Sight"
"The Red Sea Between Us"
"The Pharaoh of My Past"
"The Finger Of God"
"My Brother Aaron"
"The Moses Soliloquy"

And it is the artisans and craftsmen that fashion the
Arc and the altar and all the linens of the tent of meeting
And the finely woven vestments of Aaron and his priests
Those that work with precious stones and metals
Sculpt and shape two Cherubim that looking toward each other
With faces like the sunrise on the sea and wings spread wide
And sheltering forming a canopy over the arc of testimony
 
And it is art that gives glory to God and the craftsman's
Hand and the artisan eye that honor Him for these
Are the works and the builders of his dwelling
Among His people Israel and as priests chant prayers
And prophets recite the law and the craftsmen shape
It is the poet's song that rises like a mist on the mountain
In the morning their voices raised aloft on the melody of lute and lyre