
Lauren K. Alleyne
WebsiteYears: 2004, 2005, 2007
Poem
Fear and Trembling
After Kierkegaard
And there are many ways to come undone
– some more exquisite than others. Ask Eve,
she will tell you apple-lust unwrapped her
left her cold and with a word for shiver.
Lot’s wife is witness that a backward glance
is enough – nostalgia pillared her. But,
I imagine the somewhat greater deeds:
the Red Sea unstitched like a turquoise braid;
the lion’s den, its many hungry mouths;
Isaac’s bewildered screams: why, daddy, why?
And what terrible choice to peel back doubt
like a bandage, without question or lack
to say Here am I, to renounce relief:
step in, seize the knife, and to know belief.