'Job to His Daughter', by Vern Fein
JOB TO HIS DAUGHTER
Tirzah, I see you before the storm
happy, dancing wild.
Family joy, laughter,
the best wine, until the Wind
hit, blew all of our family away,
except your mother and me,
the cork never back in the bottle.
Where are you now?
Only the Voice in the Wind can tell me.
My faith says we will meet again
whenever God chooses.
Tirzah, I miss you and
your brothers and sisters,
lost in the terror of the storm.
The pain has never left.
A dull ache is a different pain.
I am a bit restored now.
Even your mother loves me again.
She is not so sure about God,
but has stopped telling me
to curse Him and is glad I am alive.
Glad too for my new children,
especially the girls,
the apples of your mother’s eye
as they should be.
I want to introduce you
to those beautiful, young girls—
Jemimah, the shepherdess,
Keziah, the weaver,
Keren-Happuch of the lyre.
The eyes of the world and the eyes
of a parent do not see the same.
Appearance is but a fragment
of the beauty love shows when
your children dance before you.
I do not think this letter will get to you.
How would I even send it?
Maybe put it out on the rock
in front of our tent.
Hope the Wind blows it your way.
Yet writing it felt good.
I picked you because you were the one,
my oldest daughter Tirzah,
who always snuggled up to me,
never an embarrassed child,
just loving and trusting.
Better finish this letter now
or my tears will blot the page.
Until we see each other again
when the Wind blows,
Your Loving Father, Job
Explanatory Notes:
NOTES: Job 1: 18-19: Early in the Book, Job is a wealthy, happy man with a wonderful family and is a faithful believer in God. However, various events destroy everything he has, including all of his children, but not his wife, who tells him to “Curse God and die.”
Job 42: 12-17: At the end of the Book, all his wealth is returned as well as a new family with ten children, including three daughters.
A recent octogenarian, Vern Fein, has published over 300 poems and short prose pieces in over 100 different sites. A few are: Gyroscope Review, Young Raven’s Review, Bindweed, *82 Review, River And South, Grey Sparrow Journal, and Rat's Ass Review . His second poetry book—REFLECTION ON DOTS—was released late last year.
Photography by Süleyman Şahan