An original poem (copyrighted to me):

[mary_j_59]

I just tweaked this a bit, and would appreciate comments; it may need a rewrite. Behind a cut because it's a bit grim (and to hide it from anyone that hates poetry, especially free verse!)


Jepthah's Daughter
She was, perhaps, the boy's age;
Perhaps twelve years old.
A child, unmarried,
In her father's house.

Yet, when she came out to him,
dancing and singing,
No angel stayed her father's hand.
Nor did God provide a ram
To take her place.

Mary Johnson, 2008

Comments

[elanor-x.livejournal.com]

I liked the poem and the original choice of subject.

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm glad you liked it. (It freaks me out a bit, actually, but so did that story when I was a child.)

[anne-arthur.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's sad! But very nicely done.

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Yes, that story is altogether sad, isn't it? From the father making war on his neighbors onwards. I remember it from our *children's Bible*! And, just this Easter, the contrast with Abraham and Isaac, in which God saves the child - who happens to be a boy - struck me very strongly.