The Staff

Near the end of wandering

40 years in the wilderness,
After the death of his sister Miriam,

Moses hears God tell him to speak to a rock

and bring forth water for the people.
Instead Moses strikes the rock with his staff

and water pours out.

This act of violence,

borne of frustration?

defiance? who knows?
loses Moses the right to

enter into the promised land.

What I found suspect, however,

was that Moses and Aaron then went

up the mountain with Aaron's son Eleazar,

Moses having been told by God

that Aaron was about to die. 

They took Aaron's priestly robes
and put them on Eleazar

and returned down to the people

as two, not three.

Is it suspicious that God tells

only Moses about Aaron's immanent death?

Just exactly where was Moses's staff

at that moment in time and space?

~Andrine de la Rocha 

posted 8/16/2011