Sestina: Blood Covenants Poem by Day Williams

To make a wife for Adam, God spilled blood
By taking Adam's rib, and Eden's peace
Was sweet until they broke the law of God,
Who promised through another covenant
A seed to crush the serpent's head. By faith
They left, the cherubim a flaming sign.

After the Flood, the rainbow was a sign.
God said to man, "Don't eat your meat with blood
In it and do not kill, " so man by faith
In the Lord God Almighty would have peace
With Him and blessings in this covenant
Where Noah intervened for man with God.

Years later, Abraham was tried by God
Through sacrifice of Isaac as the sign
Of faith, the center of this covenant
In which in Isaac's place a ram shed blood
As God commanded. Abraham gained peace
And blessings, for he showed unyielding faith.

After the plagues fell, Moses by his faith
Led the Israelites from Egypt, then God
Provided Ten Commandments that give peace
When followed, with the Sabbath Day a sign.
The Levites sacrificed the bulls, whose blood
Was confirmation of this covenant,

For blood must spill before a covenant
Will work. The Israelites, of faulty faith,
Failed to follow Mosaic law, and blood
Of bulls did not atone for sins. So God
Made David's throne eternal, and the sign
Was the sun and the moon. Man failed, and peace

And land were lost to Roman rulers' "peace."
Now Israel had failed each covenant,
So God in grace and mercy gave a sign:
The virgin was with child. Not works, but faith
In Him would save a man, He taught, and God
Offered eternal life through Jesus' blood.

I have sweet peace through Jesus Christ‘s shed blood,
For man has a new covenant with God,
The Holy Spirit as the sign of faith.