Art Thou Deeply Grieved

“And the Lord said to Jonah, ‘Art thou deeply grieved for the gourd?’ And he said, ‘I am deeply grieved, even unto death.'” (Jonah 4:9)

Jonah sat under a gourd tree
across the desert from Nineveh
and flared his anger
against humans who had chosen
forgiveness over fate.

I sit in the belly of a whale
the 1, 2, A, Q
and find myself
finding strangers
turn their backs and ears
to the suffering of their fellow
on their way to rallies of justice

I seem unworthy
of holding court
and casting my gavel
against millions
who have done no wrong but survive

in the sweltering heat of thunder
I kick dust, pretending to philosophize
while music oppresses my eardrums

and as the first drops fall
I realize that my gourd tree
too has withered away
in the noonday sun.

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