But first, they were two people in love
Today’s poem takes place long before Sarah and Abraham were matriarch and patriarch; before their epic journey, and before they even had their new names.
Welcome back to The Life of H: Sarah, Reimagined, where I explore the story of the biblical matriarch through poetry and a poet’s prose.
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Yes, they were walking together
The Sarah and Abraham of my imagination walk side by side.
Literally, yes: They walked thousands of miles and through nations we now know as Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, and Jordan.
But I imagine Sarah and Abraham walking side by side metaphorically, too, as soulmates and as spiritual equals.
Today’s poem takes place long before they were matriarch and patriarch; before they even had their new names.
This poem imagines them as they were: Sarai and Abram, a young couple, not yet on their epic journey, but instead on a day when they might have been walking across their home city in Ur on some mundane errand.
Or perhaps they were walking home from the temple square, headed toward the outskirts where they lived.
In this poem we overhear them talking as they pass through familiar scenery, eyes forward, hips and shoulders brushing against one another. Their footsteps hitting the packed earth sound like a steady heartbeat as their conversation deepens; as with each step and each syllable, they fall more deeply in love.
They are matching wits. They are wondering aloud. They are weaving a shared understanding of a deity that would replace— or unify— the hundreds of competing gods and goddesses that inhabit the region they are traversing.
This is the beginning of building something new. It is their first shared creation.
And this moment is all the sweeter because we know that a time will come when their lives will take on a new direction.
A time will come when they travel far from their homes; when they will each be asked to sacrifice what is most precious to them.
A time will come when their steps will fall out of rhythm with one another; when forces beyond their control will complicate their story.
But in this moment, they are all potential. All promise.
Listen to today’s poem: “Sarah, Walking with Abraham”
“Sarah, Walking with Abraham,” by Tzivia Gover, copyright 2022, 2023, all rights reserved.
Dream on the page with me in these fall workshops
Join a Dreaming on the Page Writing Circle
Tues. Sept. 12, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. US Eastern Time.
Discover the stories and poems your midnight mind offers up every night. Combine dreams and writing. (You do not have to remember dreams to participate.)
$45 with sliding scale/pay-what-you-can for students, seniors, fixed-/low-income.
The Art of Keeping a Notebook: On writing for ourselves and others
Thursdays, 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. US Eastern Time; 6-week session begins October 5th
Hybrid: in-person/online with Writers in Progress Studio, Florence, MA
Journals and notebooks are the unsung heroes of the writer’s life. Investigate the challenges, pleasure, and deep rewards of writing for yourself — in the company of others.
$215
Sarah’s Tent: Weaving a Shelter of Words with Dreaming and Drumming
Join Tzivia and Lisa Moriah, of the Temple of Divine Radiance for a live workshop on
Fri 6 Oct 2023 at 8 am PT / 11 am ET / 5 pm CET / 7 pm GST / or via replay
Harvest the gifts of ancient feminine wisdom through the archetypes of the Hebrew matriarchs using chant, writing, drumming, and dreamwork.
$25. Get more information and register:
Stories from the Shadows: Giving Voice to Unvoiced Characters
Saturday, October 28th, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Hybrid: in-person/online with Writers in Progress Studio, Florence, MA
Slip between the lines of familiar myths, fairy tales, or iconic stories from popular culture to find characters who have something to say, but haven’t had a chance to say it!
In this imaginative workshop, we’ll give voice to marginalized or misunderstood characters, restore the stories of characters who didn’t get their due, or rescue overlooked characters by giving them a plotline all their own.
$75.
Learn about me, my books, 1:1 dreamwork and writing sessions at www.thirdhousemoon.com.
Sarah had a son but no daughter. When Rebecca married Sarah’s son and moved into Sarah’s tent, what did she inherit?