Zohar Atkins
SENT
After Genesis 34
daughter of
daughters of land
son of
prince of land
saw took lay
humbled
cleaved daughter
loved
spoke
damsel damsel
spoke to father
damsel to wife
heard defiled daughter
sons were with cattle
in field
held peace came
father went out
to speak
sons came from field
heard grieved angered
done what shouldn’t be done
spoke longs pray
give wife
make marriages
give daughters take daughters
dwell land dwell trade
take possession
said find favor
say give
ask give say
damsel to wife
answered spoke defiled sister
said cannot give uncircumcised
consent be circumcised
give daughters take daughters dwell
become one people
hearken circumcised take daughter
gone
pleased son
young man
deferred
delight daughter
honored father
son came to gate of city
spoke men
dwell land trade
behold: land is large
take daughters for wives give daughters
consent to dwell
become one people
circumcised circumcised
cattle and substance and beasts
consent dwell
son hearkened gate of city
circumcised gate of city
came to pass
brothers took came killed
killed son took
out of house
went forth
sons came spoiled
defiled sister
took flocks herds asses
city field
wealth little ones wives took
spoiled house
troubled
made odious
inhabitants of land
gather together against
smite
destroyed
house
DAVID
“They kissed one another,
and wept one with another,
until David exceeded.”
(1 Samuel 20:41)
Saul hates himself for not being David.
And all David wants is to be loved by Saul.
Jonathan, the sage (or pushover) loves them both.
But Saul can only accept a love that excludes David
and since Jonathan can only love inclusively
he must exclude the excluder.
He hates Saul for making him hate him a
nd this is a sign of his great love.
And David?
Does he even love Jonathan?
No.
David is too concerned with Saul.
Why won’t Saul realize the extra foreskins
were for him? That the nights David spent
practicing the lyre, were for him?
David wants the love of one who hates him.
Saul hates the one who most loves him.
And Jonathan loves two who do not care for him.
Psychologists say Saul is the superego,
David the id, and Jonathan the ego,
or some other combination.
Coaches say Saul is how we see ourselves,
Jonathan, how others see us,
and David how we would like to be seen.
The diagrams change with the business cycle
but never the text:
David, who never loved, wept the longest.
After Genesis 34
daughter of
daughters of land
son of
prince of land
saw took lay
humbled
cleaved daughter
loved
spoke
damsel damsel
spoke to father
damsel to wife
heard defiled daughter
sons were with cattle
in field
held peace came
father went out
to speak
sons came from field
heard grieved angered
done what shouldn’t be done
spoke longs pray
give wife
make marriages
give daughters take daughters
dwell land dwell trade
take possession
said find favor
say give
ask give say
damsel to wife
answered spoke defiled sister
said cannot give uncircumcised
consent be circumcised
give daughters take daughters dwell
become one people
hearken circumcised take daughter
gone
pleased son
young man
deferred
delight daughter
honored father
son came to gate of city
spoke men
dwell land trade
behold: land is large
take daughters for wives give daughters
consent to dwell
become one people
circumcised circumcised
cattle and substance and beasts
consent dwell
son hearkened gate of city
circumcised gate of city
came to pass
brothers took came killed
killed son took
out of house
went forth
sons came spoiled
defiled sister
took flocks herds asses
city field
wealth little ones wives took
spoiled house
troubled
made odious
inhabitants of land
gather together against
smite
destroyed
house
DAVID
“They kissed one another,
and wept one with another,
until David exceeded.”
(1 Samuel 20:41)
Saul hates himself for not being David.
And all David wants is to be loved by Saul.
Jonathan, the sage (or pushover) loves them both.
But Saul can only accept a love that excludes David
and since Jonathan can only love inclusively
he must exclude the excluder.
He hates Saul for making him hate him a
nd this is a sign of his great love.
And David?
Does he even love Jonathan?
No.
David is too concerned with Saul.
Why won’t Saul realize the extra foreskins
were for him? That the nights David spent
practicing the lyre, were for him?
David wants the love of one who hates him.
Saul hates the one who most loves him.
And Jonathan loves two who do not care for him.
Psychologists say Saul is the superego,
David the id, and Jonathan the ego,
or some other combination.
Coaches say Saul is how we see ourselves,
Jonathan, how others see us,
and David how we would like to be seen.
The diagrams change with the business cycle
but never the text:
David, who never loved, wept the longest.
Copyright © Zohar Atkins 2018
Zohar Atkins is a rabbi, scholar, and poet. He is the author of An Ethical and Theological Appropriation of Heidegger's Critique of Modernity (Palgrave Macmillan 2018) and Nineveh (Carcanet 2019). A 2018 winner of an Eric Gregory Award, his poems have featured in Carcanet's New Poetries, Blackbox Manifold, Glasgow Review of Books, and elsewhere.
