Mugging Genesis

A little ditty about getting kicked for contemplating a biblical passage.

I got my teeth knocked out

on the corner of Fifth and Main

behind Lenny's barbershop,

blood and enamel spilled on the concrete.

Got my hip beaten out of its rightful place,

bearded assailant renaming me 'b***h' in the process.

You see I had been arguing through

the impossibilities of Genesis during my cut,

punished for it later with a punch in the teeth

straight from the fist of an intoxicated messenger

minutes after my neckline had been trimmed.

Who was I to question accuracy

in the comfort of a cushioned barber chair

with flecks of hair falling down my back?

Not too long later one molar

rolled white against my eye-line,

a memorial for being chosen

by the nameless who took my wallet,

I-phone, and I.D.

Fifteen minutes earlier I had asked Lenny

how a man copes with fighting God,

how Jacob felt after his name was changed

by the Nameless; Lenny held no answers.

Lenny mumbled Genesis wasn't his to understand,

that some things are simply faith.

I had none. I needed experience,

a way to identify with Israel's namesake.

After all, Jacob had slid his arm under God's chin,

beard tough as the skin of the earth beneath them.

He twisted God into headlock

and walked away with a limp and a new name.

I shuffled from behind Lenny's shop that night,

head down, pockets for hands, lips bloodied,

reeling from the beating of my life,

trying out my new nickname,

and hobbling on my one good hip.

Reviews

[writing mojo]

A religious experience...that I have always questioned, such a profound drowning of the senses from a fist, to the folded hands of self forgiveness, to the journey of self discovery, this poem restrains. I have been to Southern, and the bible belt does hold a few bloats of folks noted by the giant cross hanging like a dagger flung by the hand of god himself. It's right out side one of the cities...to let you know the all seeing eye, is the baptism of humid sky...in drunken nights.. eye for an eye....good stuff

[.]

an interesting and clever look at the way people react to having their faith questioned..even more poignant for me as my son was named after Jacob's name change..and his struggle ...Israel

[patricia]

That was absolutely fantastic..thankyou I look forward to reading more of your work.

[Sweet & Tender Hooligan]

A interesting and disturbing prose poem about closed mind people not willing to listen to other people's views even if its about their beliefs or about things they believe strongly in. A thought provoking piece.

[Ravyne Hawke]

What an amazing story. I love how you tied Jacob struggling with God and the new name to the "I"s struggling with its assailants and the new name it's been given. I love the questioning throughout this poem, the need to know inspires me to know more and more about the "I" and God. I never take it for granted that anything written in first person is the experience of the writer because I write many pieces, both poetry and prose, in first person that have absolutely nothing to do with me. Great write, wonderful read. Thank you!