wings connected woman to sister
Sep. 13th, 2012 06:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cremainsReading part of Yehezqeil, this particular part which is read yearly. To me it is one of the most depressing passages of the Bible, where the long train of exiles leaving the land is imperceptibly -- except to narrator--overtaken by another train of exiles, God's court as refugee camp, on its way--well, to where? And the courtiers are not at all what was expected, animal, but somehow recognisable, part person; the prophet finds number and gender impossible either to use or ignore. In one casual aside, we notice that the creatures are actually upside down; in another, that they breathe outside their actual bodies. Does Yehezqeil see God? He starts to look up and is hurled to the ground so hard he does not actually remember his descent, only being roughly lifted up by the wind of their departure.
it happened in the thirtieth year,
in the fourth month,
on the fifth day.
I was in the refugee train
on the banks of the Kevar
when the sky broke open
and I saw visions of God.
on the fifth day of the month,
which was the fifth year
since King Yoyakhim became
a refugee himself,
it came,
it came:
God's speech to Yehezqeil,
Buzi the priest's son,
on Chaldean land,
on the banks of the Kevar.
the hand of God
pushed him down.
I looked up.
a storm wind rushed from the North,
a big cloud
with fire seizing up around it,
and deep inside
an electric eye.
within, the ghosts
of four wild creatures,
and they looked like this:
like a person.
each one had four faces,
four wings.
for legs, a straight leg,
their feet a calf's foot,
sparking like brass.
human hands under wings
in four directions
and faces and wings to each,
wings connected woman to sister,
unswerving as she walked,
a man beyond faces as he walked.
their faces:
a human face,
and on the right side a lion's face
to each of the four,
on the left side a bull's face
to each of the four,
and a vulture's face
to each of the four.
and their faces,
and their wings, two of each
joined man to man,
covering their bodies.
they walked, a man beyond his face;
where the wind walked, they walked,
unswerving in their step.
and the wild creatures looked like this:
like burning coals from the pit,
like torchfire.
thunder walked up and down the creatures
and sparked lightning
and burst from the flame.
I saw those creatures,
and a wheel close by them,
on the ground,
where their four faces were.
the wheels looked like this:
like an aquamarine eye
and like four things at once.
they looked and acted
like wheels inside wheels.
when they moved,
they moved in four directions,
unswerving,
and rings
and her great height
and fear
filled up with eyes
each of the four
when the wild creatures walked,
the wheels walked with them,
and when the wild creatures rose,
the wheels rose with them.
where the wind walked
the wind
they walked
towards
there
and the wheels rose
because the breath
of the wild ones
was inside the wheels.
when these walked, those walked
and when these stood, those stood,
and when these rose, those rose.
above the creatures' heads
appeared the tent of the sky,
a terrifying eye of ice
bending over their heads.
under the sky's tent their wings straightened
each woman to her sister,
each man with two to cover their bodies.
I heard the sound of their wings
like the sound of deep water
like the sound of God
when they moved
the sound of crowds
like the sound of the camp
when they stopped,
they dropped their wings.
then there was a voice
from above the sky's tent
and they stopped
and they dropped
their wings
above the sky's tent
above their heads
like a sapphire
like a chair
and above the chair
almost like
a person
far above
in an electric eye
like fire
I saw her all around
closing on them
from above
and from below
I saw the appearance of fire
sparks flying
like the bow you see in clouds
on a rainy day,
that was like each spark,
and around it,
the glory of God
and when I saw it
I feel on my face
and I heard
a voice
that spoke
a wind raised me up,
and I heard behind me
a voice in turmoil, saying:
blessed is the Glory of God,
wherever it went.
it happened in the thirtieth year,
in the fourth month,
on the fifth day.
I was in the refugee train
on the banks of the Kevar
when the sky broke open
and I saw visions of God.
on the fifth day of the month,
which was the fifth year
since King Yoyakhim became
a refugee himself,
it came,
it came:
God's speech to Yehezqeil,
Buzi the priest's son,
on Chaldean land,
on the banks of the Kevar.
the hand of God
pushed him down.
I looked up.
a storm wind rushed from the North,
a big cloud
with fire seizing up around it,
and deep inside
an electric eye.
within, the ghosts
of four wild creatures,
and they looked like this:
like a person.
each one had four faces,
four wings.
for legs, a straight leg,
their feet a calf's foot,
sparking like brass.
human hands under wings
in four directions
and faces and wings to each,
wings connected woman to sister,
unswerving as she walked,
a man beyond faces as he walked.
their faces:
a human face,
and on the right side a lion's face
to each of the four,
on the left side a bull's face
to each of the four,
and a vulture's face
to each of the four.
and their faces,
and their wings, two of each
joined man to man,
covering their bodies.
they walked, a man beyond his face;
where the wind walked, they walked,
unswerving in their step.
and the wild creatures looked like this:
like burning coals from the pit,
like torchfire.
thunder walked up and down the creatures
and sparked lightning
and burst from the flame.
I saw those creatures,
and a wheel close by them,
on the ground,
where their four faces were.
the wheels looked like this:
like an aquamarine eye
and like four things at once.
they looked and acted
like wheels inside wheels.
when they moved,
they moved in four directions,
unswerving,
and rings
and her great height
and fear
filled up with eyes
each of the four
when the wild creatures walked,
the wheels walked with them,
and when the wild creatures rose,
the wheels rose with them.
where the wind walked
the wind
they walked
towards
there
and the wheels rose
because the breath
of the wild ones
was inside the wheels.
when these walked, those walked
and when these stood, those stood,
and when these rose, those rose.
above the creatures' heads
appeared the tent of the sky,
a terrifying eye of ice
bending over their heads.
under the sky's tent their wings straightened
each woman to her sister,
each man with two to cover their bodies.
I heard the sound of their wings
like the sound of deep water
like the sound of God
when they moved
the sound of crowds
like the sound of the camp
when they stopped,
they dropped their wings.
then there was a voice
from above the sky's tent
and they stopped
and they dropped
their wings
above the sky's tent
above their heads
like a sapphire
like a chair
and above the chair
almost like
a person
far above
in an electric eye
like fire
I saw her all around
closing on them
from above
and from below
I saw the appearance of fire
sparks flying
like the bow you see in clouds
on a rainy day,
that was like each spark,
and around it,
the glory of God
and when I saw it
I feel on my face
and I heard
a voice
that spoke
a wind raised me up,
and I heard behind me
a voice in turmoil, saying:
blessed is the Glory of God,
wherever it went.
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Date: 2012-09-14 04:45 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2012-09-14 02:33 pm (UTC)