Akedah (Based on The Sacrifice of Isaac, by Rembrandt)
Father’s betrayal through a whetted edge,
the pain sheltered from an innocent lamb.
A higher promise weighing down one’s pledge
to sacrifice and slaughter by kin’s hand.
Polarity—tears stitch themselves to woe,
afore saturating into the cord
that bounds adolescent limbs to sorrow.
External submission, he still implored.
Then Abraham’s entreaty melted in
an angel’s succor seized beyond the knife
before piercing innocent, tender skin,
suspension in mid-air preserved his life.
Each setting sun blossoms into fresh start,
delivering lost faith to shepherd’s heart.