Isaac And Abraham Poem by Chirikure Chirikure

(on the advent of ESAP)


Father, I don't understand -
You knock on my door at this ungodly hour
To tell me: 'Tie up your sandals and let's go, right now.
Tie them up firmly, the journey is very, very long.'

You know very well I have a family.
How can I just dissolve and disappear without sitting down with them first?
Don't you see, when I come back,
There won't be a family to speak of here?

You know me, Father, if you say tie up your sandals,
I tie them up, but to tie them up properly,
I need to know how far we are going.
Is it uphill or downhill, is it warm or cold?

Help me, Father: where exactly are we heading?
What is it that made you take this mysterious decision?
Did somebody visit you in a dream?
This sounds like the story of Abraham and Isaac and the Mount of Moria!

Translation by Charles Mungoshi