dreams of joseph

i

betrothed as he was
the news was one thing only
devastating
had tried to do it all by the Book
ready to begin a lifetime of love
arms tingling with anticipation
abruptly what was to be 
high heights of zenith became
dark depths of nadir
a world turned upside down

she had come to him quietly
minimizing the whispers of indiscretion
and so he would leave her in the same way
it was settled then – until –

a dream
receive her as she is
trust her in defiance 
of all earthly understanding
launch into that lifetime

he awoke, stood up from his mat
and reset the course of his life

ii

wise men had come and gone
settling into parenthood
unplanned and untimely as it was

he now knew this child
was called to more than carpentry
growing up in the lineage
of the un-ending throne
so, steeped he would be 
in ancient history
– but not quite so –

a dream 
get up, pick up, round up
everything
and go
to a foreign land
where your ancestors were 
enslaved

and so he left
by the flight of night
no star to chart the path
with toddler tucked in
turning towards the trauma
of centuries past

iii & iv

all was going to script
just not the one he wrote
rather the raspy voices
of long-ago rejected prophets
seemingly guiding the way

unsettling as it was
the shattered glass hopes 
of new beginnings
were being regathered
in the land of pharaohs and pyramids
respectability restored
vocation viable
– until –

a dream
murderous threats subsided
at long last they were 
to head north to homeland
by now more like strange land

perhaps as prodigals
the family returns
to the backwaters of galilee
in quiet without riot 
– those were to come –
where the little boy grew
inch by inch
towards the heights 

v

who knew
history can turn
on the attention paid to a
dream
– i’d better wake up –

Written by Scott Moore
Illustrated by Landon Wideman

Inspired Jan 2022