Sihon

(Context: Deuteronomy 2:30)

Ours is the city of intelligence. Those whom we protect call us giants, claim we hold the ancient knowledge from before the flood.

Here we sit, behind our machines: arms crossed, feet planted, eyes forward, absorbing the world that we detect. The figures show the threats, the possibilities; our perfect information tells us what we must do to protect our homeland, to secure our borders from invaders and from within.

Yet I cannot reconcile my knowledge and my heart.

Aaron

(Context: Leviticus 10:1)

“Strange fire”… and so my sons have died. And so I sit in silence, and so I mourn. I have always been the quiet one.

Moab

(Context: Genesis 19:36)

By day, my grandfather sits at his cave, watching men watch the sheep who graze above the ruins. By night, he sits in the field and drinks, as his head rests against the pillar of salt, as he wraps his arms around it and tries to dance.