IMPROVISATION #168

AT DEAD SEA SCROLL CAVES

It seems like any other days
in the quiet desert knoll
peaceful for now
among the country Bedouins
       clearing our minds
by the  narrow Qumran caves
 with our oil lamps
by properties from  the pious
 in an early century
among arrowheads
  blades,  storage jars
with strange inscriptions
 on parchment pages
   by holy scrolls of the Bible
in lines of an ancient language
    though spoken in the markets
     and colleges of today
as if are in an adventure movie
   from Hollywood
 among  hunted thieves
 wanting antiquities
   under the stars
speaking libel
yet here we are
in this once
sectarian neighborhood
  of decorated Carnelian stamps
 by flint
 tools representing
   a neolithic age
  lids on  jars
flint blades,
pottery shards, blades
 knives
with hidden knowledge
of their past lives
  known only in the bones
from inside  at  forbidden sin
all the way
from the Garden of Eden
 seeking  for pardon
  and with it, redemption
covering over once unbroken
   textiles to trade
  in dark skins
   created from the hot sun
of exiles with beards
with a token of a bard's words
  spoken in Hebrew  to share
   with an unbelieving world.