Collected Poems by Anthony Burgess (best e ink reader for manga txt) 📕

people

Cease to see good where no good is to be seen,

Then am I not right to waver? There is a feeling

That we ought to return to Egypt.’ Moses said:

‘Never waver, Koreh. Ever be firm

For one thing or another. Never waver.’

But now, spilling grape-pips, fig-sap, many mouths

Began to cry scorn for Moses, and for Abiram,

Dathan, Koreh, strong sounds of support.

Till Joshua cried: ‘Listen.’ But they would not.

So he took his horn from his side and blasted loud

And, taken by surprise, they listened. He said:

‘The land we passed through – it is a good land.

It is our land. If the Lord delight in us,

He will bring us to that land. He will give it to us,

Against the opposition of mere giants.’

Moses looked towards his own tribe of the Levites,

Saying: ‘The sons of Levi have no word

Either against or for me.’ Indeed, they stood

With blank sad faces, shut mouths. ‘Decide’, he said.

At least decide’. But they stood there, gnawing their lips.

‘Milk and honey,’ sneered Abiram. It was taken as a sign

For the throwing of stones. Joshua cried again:

‘I say this – do not rebel against the Lord.

Do not fear the peoples of that land.

We can chew them up like bread, for our teeth will be

The Lord’s teeth. Their defence will melt like

Honey in the sun. The Lord is with us, not them.

Do not be afraid. Follow me. Fight.’

So they threw and threw, there being plenty of stones.

And then a sharp-sided flint caught the brow of Moses

And he cursed the people, or tried to: ‘God’s curse

On you who curse the Lord.’ He was struck again

And this time fell, though at once found himself standing

In a crystal desert, looking at a tabernacle

That was twenty suns, unflinching, hearing a voice:

‘How long will this people provoke me?

How long will it be ere they believe me,

For all the signs which I have shown among them?

Because all those men which have seen my glory

And my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness,

And have tempted me now these ten times,

And have not hearkened to my voice,

Surely they shall not see the land which I

Promised unto their fathers.

Their carcasses shall fall in the wilderness.

They shall wander many years in the wilderness.

None now living shall come into that land,

Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh

And Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones –

Them I will bring in, them,

And they shall know the land which ye have despised.’

So Moses in the spirit stood erect,

But in the body lay stricken on his pallet,

While Zipporah wept and tended his wounds. Without,

In the place of assembly, Abiram spoke to many:

‘He is about to die. I have this, friends,

On the best authority. He is only a mortal man.

You have now the choice of living or dying yourselves.

Who will lead you to life, if it is life you choose?

Egypt is far. Beyond these mountains there

There is hope that is near – food, water, life.

We do not seek a kingdom. We seek a place

Where we can enter quietly, live in peace –

In slavery, if need be. Slavery –

Is slavery worse than this life-in-death?’ Doubtful,

Divided, the people knew now which way to turn.

Dathan had counselled Egypt, so had Abiram:

Now they tugged different ways: a choice of enslavements.

But when Moses, weak but beyond fear of dying,

Lay awake in his tent, Aaron came in to say

That now they had various kinds of revolt on their hands.

Some had gone over the mountains. Moses rose,

Helped by his brother, to look afar and saw them,

A band of climbing Israelites. He wept and raged,

Though feeble: ‘The Lord is not with them.

They enemy will see them – the Amalekites,

The Canaanites. Ah, the fools. The foolish children…’

By the Ark of the Covenant, Levites, some with packs,

Already ripe to move, still strove in

Justification of their timid revolt:

We are the tribe of Moses, brothers, yes –

But are we not also the chosen of God?

Is it not of God himself we must seek counsel?

At least we find that God does not speak against us.

Has perhaps the Lord God forsaken Moses?

In Canaan, Ahiman and Sheshnai looked,

From the stream where they were bathing, up in wonder

At a strange horde, unarmed, on the mountain-top,

With sheep and goats in plenty. They ran in glee

And wetness the sun drank to speak of it,

To summon the drums and trumpets. And all too soon

The fugitives looked down, panic dawning,

Ripening, to see a dusty army flashing,

And many began to scramble back, ready to curse,

When they had breath, the plan of Abiram.

Some held out longer, then fled, having seen things

They later were to unlade in front of Joshua:

Cut to pieces. My own father. They started

With chopping off his ring-finger. They could not

Get the ring off so they. Horror, sobbing.

They are coming. They’re getting their army together.

The Israelite camp filled with weeping, cursing,

The fluttering of fowls at the scent of the fox.

Joshua blew his horn, brought order, order,

Order of a sort. ‘Let no more try to leave.

You are all under my orders.’ At least forewarned,

Seeing in no surprise the flash of weapons

Coming over the mountain, the army, such as it was,

Had not time to arm and assemble under Joshua.

A small armed guard, under the command of Aaron,

Guarded the tabernacle, rich gold in sunlight,

The enemy’s, without a doubt, prime target.

So down they came, yelling, with drum-thump,

With bray of horn, in dust stabbed with points of silver,

To the Israelite plain. The women screamed and scattered

While Joshua raised his spear. In the first skirmish,

The enemy was surprised – these were, then, after all,

No enfeebled people sucking goat-teats. Joshua smote

Hard and hard. Caleb killed a giant.

But the enemy drove in to the centre, seeing gold.

Aaron was pierced in the thigh, but the inner guard

Fought the more for his scream, beating them off,

The dirty defiling fingers. Within his tent,

Moses prayed, tried to rise, was held down

By Zipporah and Ghershom, so prayed again:

They may not prevail. You, O Lord God,

May not suffer them to prevail. And the earth shook,

But it may have been a natural fault of the earth,

Or the shaking of the armies. He heard a trumpet

Crying retreat. Joshua, wiping the sweat