The Rabbi

I, Jeremiah, have been appointed by G-d over
the nations to destroy and overthrow

many years ago I saw that call
but until now the scope of that destruction
paled compared to what I now vision

this revelation process perplexes, even me
a glimpse, perhaps a word read, was it heard?
but together trigger thoughts
which I imagine into words, those I speak
and later write—G-d’s surely
but mine also

it was a Judas night—storms rolled, a light show
Joel would call it the Day of the Lord, I could not
name the horror—just complete destruction
the mashhet (the first born’s destroyer) worked his evil

how can any god call Nebuchadnezzar “my servant”
this Nebuchadnezzar will demolish Jerusalem, rape
its women, kill its men, and exile its children
that’s sitra achra—other side

as the vision rolls Nebuchadnezzar molests our
neighbors: Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, also desert dwellers
all gone, ruined, Pharaoh likewise, Egypt no more

The dream continues, Babylon, refined by wealth, faces
a foe, yhwh—hardly a god
if he does not avenge—asks “who is this violator of my people?”
what they did to others, will be done to them
the tool is returned to the forge's heat
and yet the dream penetrates farther afield

This seer visions that previously blank
it’s all over, nothing remains, yhwh himself appears
locked and loaded—as he created
he terminates; the world may have experienced the extent of his mercy