Pass The Salt, Mrs. Lot Poem by gershon hepner

God told them all they must forget,
and start their lives anew once Sodom burned,
but one of them was so beset
by grief for family and friends she turned
to look behind and was appalled.
Since God could not forgive that she forgot
His words, He turned her into salt,
a pillar looking backwards, Mrs. Lot.
He thought, “Don't dwell upon the past, ”
and kashered her with salt to make her sever
her spirit from her flesh, recast
as monument to memory forever.
Her blood, which is the spirit, drained
away because her flesh had been corrupted
by past events that she complained
hot brimstoned fire cruelly interrupted,
though when she looked behind, some say,
she wasn’t looking backwards at the past,
but froze when trying to survey
the future, gazing gnostically aghast.

11/7/98,6/9/06,5/10/07