Freedom? (offerings for Passover)
Burgess, Anthony
FREEDOM? And other offerings for Passover ANTHONY BURGESS The Return of Moses to Egypt The ferryman was curious: why the journey? And then, Incredulous: "A dream? You say a dream? You Seek...
...You're wasting your time...
...Moses explained In his old halting way: ^We call it Passover, And shall call it Passover till the end of our race, For tomorrow we pass over from death to life...
...Look...
...So at nightfall All were ready to sit, girded, sandaled, The children excited, and there was laughter, Even song, for the time was coming...
...Listen, brother...
...For God has shown himself in the running blood of the Rivers, in the swarming gnats and flies...
...But it is hardly our fault, Is it, hardly our fault...
...Then Moses heard...
...They that End the journey may not be those that began it...
...Life is, life is what we see, smell, feel— The taste of a bit of bread, a mouthful of water, Sitting at the door, watching the evening come on With the circling of the bats...
...The things you talk of Are only in the mind...
...God leaves us unscathed and wholesome while all Egypt Screams...
...He has other things on his mind...
...The boatman earnestly said (and would have Laid a hand on Aaron's arm had not his hands Been engaged in rowing): "Never be taken in by Words is what I say...
...Give us a sign...
...My grandfather told me about him...
...He's going to meet his brother and his brother Is going to save the world...
...The others sane because they are slaves— Is that it...
...And the lamb we kill, Each of our households, the lamb we eat Is an offering to the Lord, who leads us In our passing over from death to life...
...Aaron to the Elders Aaron addressed the elders, saying: "The signs are before you Can you harbor further doubts...
...We are old...
...Earnestly, Squinting at Aaron across the blinding river light...
...Half of it anyway...
...The time is coming They said, but not really believing For this was a ceremony only of deliverance...
...A black sky, starless, with a dying moon...
...I'll return your fare to you...
...Let me take you back...
...Mad because I dreamed of the coming of Salvation...
...Signs, signs...
...Words: Words were a comfort as well as a weapon...
...If you're going to have salvation, as you call it, It won't be through your brother or my brother or Through anybody else's brother...
...Sodomy, bestiality, Inhumanity...
...Signs...
...Signs...
...But in Aaron's house where all the blood of Amram Sat, fingering the bitter herbs, "The time is coming," Moses said, and shuddered...
...It was the eyes, he knew the eyes then, And the mouth quiet in the beard of one who, he saw With shock, was no longer young...
...I know, I know It is hard to take in...
...You know, signs...
...You seem," said the ferryman, "to be a Decent sort of a man...
...Good men, no doubt of it...
...The silence," Aaron said, "Strikes like a new noise...
...Signs...
...They sat silent, The meat grown cold on the table, listening...
...Nobody follows dreams, not any more...
...Something out of nothing...
...Who is he...
...Then day, a mirage of green, mirage of a caravan, Vultures gyrated, swooped...
...Signs are what we need...
...And the rest of the world bursts with sanity, Is that it...
...The relief at not having to be Free any more...
...The old days...
...You see, Moses...
...It is a hard God, This God of yours, ours...
...The boatman spat...
...And one said: "It means, I suppose, that we are the chosen people...
...Nobody's coming from over there...
...You know the word...
...What signs does he have...
...And this strange supper we take tonight Is a ceremony...
...Made soft by slavery...
...Aaron told him...
...And you shall Season your meat with bitter herbs, that the Bitterness of the exile shall be in your mouths At the very door of the exodus...
...Many of us May be discarded on the way—worn-out, useless— But the people goes on, the race continues...
...We shall have need of ceremonies...
...You know what we mean...
...He is coming...
...said one...
...All science today...
...Only slaves...
...Signs...
...Aaron now left the freedom of slavery And sought the prison of the desert...
...This is Passover, And will be so till the end of our race, to mark The hour of his passing over...
...Then the noise of a nearing wind at the door, And the door shaking, but then the shaking ceased, And the wind passed over...
...Then, from afar, a scream, and another, And soon the sound of wailing...
...I have to...
...Aaron said: "There was a time When dreams were considered important in Egypt...
...Day and a fierce wind and he lay then Talking talking, half-buried in a sand drift, Sand in the furrows of his face, till a hand came Gently to clear the sand, and he saw the hand, The arm...
...We are too old, I tell you, For this talk of common goals and purposes and journeys...
...Show us a Sign...
...For though the word is in him it is I, I, I Who must speak the word...
...We are degraded, yes...
...Aaron said: "I do...
...So he landed, Sketched a blessing, smiling, and the ferryman Offered a swig of sour wine...
...What we must rather do is gird our loins, Prepare for the coming of the day...
...God help them...
...And Aaron: "For the working out of his divine purpose on earth...
...Touched, a bit, but that may be the sun...
...But an elder said: "The day, you mean, of leaving a bondage that has become— Well, all that some of us have known...
...Do you Understand the words I speak to you, Moses...
...Paying double fare too...
...Brother...
...As a sign of what...
...It means—oh, is it so blasphemous To wish to be left alone...
...And Aaron was angry, shouting: "You speak thus, When the Lord your God exerts himself beyond What may be thought of as proper for a God...
...The ferryman said: "Then you're mad...
...This is today...
...Miracles, Miracles is the word...
...Say that word slavery And it sounds bad...
...But we are all one, and the dead and the yet unborn Share in the common purpose, the common goal...
...Miracles...
...Courage...
...So the knives came down On the necks of the lambs, and Pithom was All blood and bleating for a space...
...You know that word...
...To remind us who we are...
...A star shot...
...And no word...
...The joys of Slavery...
...But there was nothing to hear...
...The God of the universe Has chosen a people weak, enslaved, hopeless, Indolent...
...But I follow this dream...
...The fight, he saw, Was a fight against men who, ferrying from bank to bank, Believed they were traveling...
...Hardly our fault...
...Say instead a mouthful of bread And fish and palm wine for a day's work and it sounds A great deal better...
...He is coming...
...What we are...
...But it is a Terrible thing, a terrible burden, and the Burden is just beginning...
...Then all suddenly listened...
...He put his head in his hands, But Miriam held his shoulders, saying: "Courage...
...So set, All of them, in their ways...
...For the time is with us...
...Till the end of our race...
...A terrible word, freedom...
...Solitary, terrified, When night fell, of the geometry of the stars, Anthony Burgess is a well-known British literary critic and author of, among some thirty books, A Clockwork Orange...
...Chosen for what...
...Does he have any signs...
...It's all blown up, like a sheep's stomach full of wind...
...Listen, Moses...
...The sky swung like a pendulum...
...Who is this one you're going to meet then...
...This Lord God you talk about has forgotten...
...Then, head shaking, He waited for a boatload of the sane, seeking the world, Egypt...
...You shall eat the flesh of the lamb Roasted, eat it in haste...
...Given time, they could be fought with words...
...That was Joseph...
...You Seek somebody because of a dream...
...Aaron spoke angrily: "I see...
...Shuddering...
...Does this mean nothing...
...You know these words I speak now...
...And one said: "I don't like this sort of talk at all...
...Means we must face the desert and dream of the promise...
...So the bolder asked, and Aaron said: "As a sign Of the primal sacrifice, wherein we kill, And of the second sacrifice, wherein we eat, Marking the place where 'we eat' " [beneficent wiles...
...We are only slaves...
...He spoke to himself, or to someone: "There is, you see, The question of convincing them...
...Kill now and Pray as you kill, for you kill in the name Of the Lord's Passover...
...But Aaron smiled...
...And the bread you eat with it Shall be unleavened, shall be a bread of haste, With no time for the leavening...
...And so, together, With few words, words unneeded, they Stumbled back into Egypt...
...So it would seem...
...So says the Lord...
...So Aaron said: "On the lintels of your dwellings And on the doorposts, you shall daub some of the Lamb's blood, as a sign...
...Never heard of him...
...You know what we mean...
...But of that other Passing over he did not for the moment speak, Learning fast the beneficent wiles of the leader...
...I'll take you back...
...But Aaron cried: "We must learn to think of ourselves as a people, Not as mere tribes, families, lone beings with Individual sufferings...
...Passover, Some said, what is Passover...
...No word...
...We must not ask too much...
...It is the first sign...
...These selections are taken from his long epic poem, Moses, and are printed here courtesy of Stonehill Publishing Company...
...Vultures swooped...
...The daubing was done and inspected, and, on the fires, The tender flesh seethed, while in the ovens The hard heavy bread was baked...
...The corpse of a dog In the rocks...
...Hear that, you fish down there...
...Signs...
...Forget all about it...
...But Aaron smiled...
...There was a time When I did not...
...The Passover So Aaron that day addressed the people, saying: "With your loins girded, sandals on your feet, Staff in your hand, you shall be ready...
...Said to himself: No word...
...It is hard to face the new life...
Vol. 8 • March 1983 • No. 3
