A general view of ‘Guernica’ by Pablo Picasso at the Reina Sofia Museum during a press preview before its reopening to the public, during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on June 03, 2020, in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images) The hedgehog cannot see beyond its nose
and lives contented within crooked timbers;
above tall trees the fox, more curious, knows
vast vistas lie concealed by darkest nimbus.
From crooked timbers Noah built an Ark
but man needs stronger, straighter ones to soar
towards the sky, departing from the dark,
the deluge and detritus of the ocean floor.
The fact that mankind is more curious
than hedgehogs, leads all humans to be less
like hedgehogs than like foxes, who when furious
destructively cause undivine distress.
The Flood, we’re told in Genesis six eleven,
was caused by just such violence, termed hamas,
displeasing not just righteous men but heaven,
with differences between them that still damn us.
Hamas attacked us on a festival when, joyous,
by us the Torah should have been enjoyed.
However much, though, murderers annoy us,
our rights to Israel cannot be destroyed.
In Genesis 6:11 – the story of the Flood – we’re told:
יא וַתִּשָּׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ, לִפְנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים; וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ, חָמָס. 11 And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with hamas. violence.
Gershon Hepner is a poet who has written over 25,000 poems on subjects ranging from music to literature, politics to Torah. He grew up in England and moved to Los Angeles in 1976. Using his varied interests and experiences, he has authored dozens of papers in medical and academic journals, and authored “Legal Friction: Law, Narrative, and Identity Politics in Biblical Israel.” He can be reached at gershonhepner@gmail.com.
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