(After ​a Dead Sea scroll)

In the roll of my voice

you will find perfect peace

for I have come from the power

to divide and unite

and shatter you. I am

whore and whole, bride and groom,

mother of my father

sister of my husband

the wisdom of the Greeks

the barbarians’ knowledge

each their judge. When you seek me

you will not find me; but if you

hide you will encounter me.

Enter my childhood though it be small,

for the greatness is known

by the smallness, and what is

inside you stands beside you.

Do not avert your gaze

but contemplate: how pleasant

are the passions and sly betrayals

that men embrace till they go up

sobered to their resting place

where they will merge with me

never to die again.

                                She said;

then fell silent, while Her clouds

dispersed over the wadis

hemming an oily

metallic sea.

Version first published in International Woman's Day: An Anthology (Moonstone Press, March 2022)