How even the holy cover their faces
(poem on the Sacrifice of Isaac)

Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. Genesis 22

Deanna Laney, called by God,
gave up her children. This is not a story. Testimony:

How she woke near midnight and took the oldest first
onto the lawn, how the sprinklers came on, how they ran
to the rock garden. How she had decided
on stones.

How the Lord put a stone at her feet as a sign,
how she put a stone in the crib
as a sign, how a baby's head fills the hand
like a stone, how sleep fills it with heavy
decision, how she woke near midnight
with her heart filled up and heard: it's time,
it's time --

How she heard it first when the baby
squeezed a frog, how gold its eyes bugged out
clear as a message. How he toddled to her,
stone in chubby offering. How his name
was Aaron. How her boys were Joshua, Luke,
and Aaron.

If the ministry of death, says the Word, came in glory,
how much more, then -- How God sent the ram.
How you can't see why, she testifies. You've just
got to. How in scripture, they say
Here I am.

How her boys were Joshua, Luke, and Aaron.
How she took the oldest first
into the garden. How she
smashed. How she pulled
the body by beloved feet
into the bushes. How she looked
for the ram. How her robe
and white pajamas. How her wet feet
and hands.