Issac’s Song

Sandra Block

(based on the novel
“Jephte’s Daughter”
by Naomi Regan)

Beloved, thou art now mine
As it is written
“I am my beloved’s
My beloved is mine”.
Now my country
is thy country.

Fear me, bend to me
My will
shall be thy will
Consecrated thou art
Now unto me.

Put away
thy youthful innocence
and naiveté
For this harsh confined
life of a Chassidic wife

Bound now
to a higher purpose
Romance hold no place
Woman becomes submissive
Self lost
until another time,
another place.

Thy garden shall open
to my seed
Not only my desire
must thou heed
Thy father’s line
shall now
be guaranteed.

Home wrecker, harlot
and whore
Wife and princess no more
What else to think
As thou return
from distant shore
When it is death’s door
I heard you called.

Destroyer of my life
I release you as my wife
But bound shall thou be
To my seed until eternity
Even as now.
true love
beckons thee be wife.

Sandra E. Block graduates from Santa Monica College in June. She is editor of the poems and short stories section of VOICES magazine.