Squandering Eden

when the plagues descended upon egypt
the people fell to their knees and cried in lamentations
to heaven that such troubles should be visited upon their lives
for they did not realize that across the river of despair
there were those less fortunate
who had known only such travails
for generations too countless to number

we are not told why the accident of birth places us
at the chosen moments that we inhabit

all one can do is take up the staff and walk
forty years in the desert of the soul until you arrive
at an oasis where the water is as deep as the moon
that mirrors its reflection over your shoulder