Isabella Bonifacio-Sudnik Deliver Me

[Deliver Me]

Isabella Bonifacio-Sudnik

SAND! The desert sand of the Sahara spread out into a wide expanse as if a giant hourglass broke over the land. The three magnificent pyramids stood jarring in stature for the grandfather, father, and son.

SAND AND PULL! In every direction, clear pastel skies dominated the yellow landscape. Blowing sand battled the other particles, grinding their brothers from rock formations into finer dust. Two sacred hands covered with mystic paint, one blue, one beige. Moved together, slashing the sky I saw, over the void of galaxies beyond.

WITH THE SALT OF MY SWEAT ON MY BROW I descended down a shadowed tomb. The thick air adhered to my skin and baked my flesh into a sweat. There was no real freedom from the harsh sun.

ELOHIM, GOD ON HIGH, CAN YOU HEAR YOUR PEOPLE CRY? We stacked their pyramids to the heavens and filled them with gold, and sacrificed our bodies of service, all so the pharaohs would live a second life. It was selfish to demand that much, all for the sake of living eternally.

DELIVER US Like the woman covered in flowing black clothing, who guided my rope. I traveled through the desert on a camel, And she delivered me. The ground seemed farther away As the dunes rose.

HELP US NOW. The more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection. Yet I saw crowds of our neglected people, covered in dirt and wounds on the streets.

THIS DARK HOUR, Down a spiral staircase, where the bodies decayed. It got darker and darker as the unclouded sun faded away. With openings in stone large enough for me to fall through.

HERE IN THIS BURNING SAND, Stout mountains surfaced, and the Red Sea plummeted over the hills.

THERE’S A LAND YOU PROMISED US My body floated limply beneath the tides, you created, To a land adorned with diverse vegetation. Far from the beige tones of this kingdom.

DELIVER US TO THE PROMISED LAND Across this emptied sea, I reminded myself that prophecies were real. That rays of sun entwined onto my skin, like a pompous snake.

Young clung to my horse, chained to me and covered with sores. Poor good and tender children, Looked at me with begging eyes, drooping down and clouded with filth.

I had nothing to give, Yet I held you next to me, and I sincerely hoped, you had faith. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid.

I PRAY WE’LL MEET AGAIN IF HE WILL Protect me from fate, I must be destined to have. I can’t end up like the dead, discarded in the Sahara. My corpse abandoned, where alabaster stone met the sand, because my body was no longer useful to whoever was using me.

DELIVER US For the pharaohs looked at us And offered nothing. I believe you were my answer. They shook their heads, and slashed their hands And slashed our skin open as well.

HEAR OUR PRAYER, DELIVER US I prayed for you on embellished rugs. I always heard the restrained voices We were all drowning, you were our first breath above the sea.

FROM DESPAIR, THESE YEARS OF SLAVERY Things humans in power were willing to do, to appease their desires. All of them enslaved those below them, so they became gods.