for Ron Cassaday
Arrayed in your rainbow cloak, you explained
your brothers’ dreams. They threw you in a pit.
Then you defined Pharaoh’s vision, how grain
would flourish then fail; moved from jail to sit
as the king’s viceroy. Worth a treasury
more than the 20 shekels which once sold
you into slavery, you found pleasure
in testing your brothers, cared for your old
father, changed Egypt’s land-tenure system.
Now you shine in the torah, some Christians
honor a great saint, while faithful Muslims
see you as prophet, called “Moon of Canaan.”
Yet my heart feels, despite all these dressings,
you still value most old Jacob’s blessings.
Roger Armbrust
July 8, 2007
