Dan Lukiv

The Words of Amos...the Sheep Raiser[ ], poetry Dan Lukiv

An excerpt, a poem based on chapter seven of Amos // O plummet- / Tin knob? Lead? / In the heart, / Measure all things / Vertical, / Upright, gentle, // Mild, / Kind. Measure / The wall. If // It leans, who should / Tear it down? / Who should smash // Its unnatural form? / Who should pass / It through the people? // Of widows / And fatherless boys, / Who should watch // This measuring? / Who should eval- / Ulate the worth of // City gates that lean? / Who should pass the line / From the sun-arc // Through all the red / History books? Who / Should measure // The vertical stature / Of ziggurats, / Of places for think- // Ing men / Where idols in suits / Sputter into micro- // Phones? O plummet- / Pass through the heart / And into the grave.