Poem: Ah Reuben

 

Ah Reuben!

 

Ah Reuben! eldest of Jacob

Rubbing the feelings of your dad,

Mad not your desire to make him.

Whims o’ertake you and you love what

Lot he does. Take little brother—

Mothers not shared—he’s a great pain

Mainly in arrogance thinking—

Winging on dreams his brothers will

Willingly serve him like the moon

Swoons to the sun and you know he

Sees that your father loves him so,

More than you or your brothers

Smothered not by gifts like he—

Peeled away from the family,

Jacob inconsolably mourning—

Blasting rubbish of bowing sheaves

Weaved into his elaborate

Fated aching dreams that cause you

To want to rip him from the world.

Twirling through your mind the things you

Truly love—Old Jacob and his

Mistress, and his youngest son.

Fun to throw him to the wolves

Gloves on so traces are removed—

Loved even by you, oh Reuben,

When will you release your jealous

Lusts for what your father has and

Mend the truth within your heart?

Start by admitting you love them.

Same as you’ve always loved within,

Thinly disguised from yourself, your

Poor mourning father and his

Listless loves and all that he has,

Sad that you lost Joseph.

 

December 2021

About This Poem

This is another reckoning with a biblical character in the bible. Reuben, son of Jacob, was the brother who saved Joseph from death and allowing Joseph to save Israel by being taken to Egypt. Reuben was complicated because he slept with one of his father's concubines. Not good. But he also seemed to love his father and that's why he couldn't kill Joseph. At least that's how I read him. This is a poem exploring that.