David Waits in Ziklag

This is just one more battle, Jonathan,
against an enemy we’ve fought before,
but now they have five kings to Israel’s one,
and I’m not there. The kings decided, four
to one, that they’d be better off today
without me, thinking I’d betray their side.
Who knows, perhaps they’re right. I must betray
someone. Are you thinking I’ll just ride
to you, and bring along six hundred men
and turn the tide of battle? That won’t be.
Unless God works a miracle again
and turns disaster into victory,
Israel will be gone before tonight,
everything lost. Your beauty. My delight.

***

Gail White has been part of the Formalist poetry movement from its beginning, has outlived some of its journals, and still submits to all she can find.  She is a contributing editor of Light Poetry Magazine and also a frequent contributor to Lighten-Up Online.  Her book Asperity Street and chapbook Catechism can be found on Amazon.  She is the resident cat lady of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.