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At Lunch In Sychar On A Rather Warm Day
[after John 4:1-20]
Look at her---drawing water at this hour,
hoping she can avoid the stares and sour
remarks of those whom her lifestyle offends.
I wonder if she wonders why no one
will tolerate her (she whom none befriends).
Her questionable morals have undone
herself and (by my count) six sinful men
(she has been at it since . . . the Lord knows when).
Who is that stranger she is talking to
now?---not from here---a displaced Jew?---
a hapless wanderer just passing through?---
likely. who seeks the cool shade, there to rest,
beside the ancient rim of Jacob's well
(Jacob: our father). Surely he has guessed;
even a man like him should surely tell
the sort of woman she is, bound for hell---
a fornicator, harlot, whore and slattern
not fit to serve bad wine in some cheap tavern.
Starward
[jlc]
