Egypt Dot Com – A poem for Parsha Vayigash

Joseph made it a permanent law regarding all the lands of Egypt, which until today was never changed, that one-fifth of its produce belong to Pharaoh. ~ Genesis 47:26

I think Joseph was the Amazon dot com of his day.
The people came to him with everything –
first their money, then their land, then their livestock,
then themselves, all in exchange for bread.

Joseph gave it all to Pharaoh who now had his hands
in everyone’s pockets. And the people rejoiced
because they loved bread so much, and they shouted
how they had been saved by their reliance on

Joseph dot com and his parent company
Pharaoh dot net. And they didn’t mind that
all the streaming channels were camels and
treasure cities because they got their bread

in two days or less. And all of these things
were regarded as benefits. And Joseph’s voice
controlled it all. The people would say
Joseph, what time is it and he would tell them

or they would say Joseph, what’s the weather like
in Goshen and Joseph would tell them and
sometimes add by the way, you’re running low
on seed for your grain, would you like to order more?

And the people would because it was convenient
and everybody talked about the included entertainment
down by the Nile River, long before it turned to blood.
And according to the ancient text it is still this way to this day

though this was written long before this actual day
so, who knows? I certainly don’t. I’ve never been to Egypt.
I tried to go once, even the the ancient text suggested
it wasn’t a good idea.

Rick Lupert, a poet, songleader and graphic designer, is the author of 28 books including “God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion.” Visit him at www.JewishPoetry.net