Generations Before Lot, God Makes a Promise

After the flood when God's anger receded, when the ribs
of the ark broke open, when the heated dung holding
each being of the earth one to the other, crumbled
to dust, when there was an end to the endless,
rocking, God touched the unicorn's bones.
He saw the fallen gnats, sweet berries
and poisonous buried in mud. He
saw the penguin's broken wing
and broke open light, benign,
beautiful his covenant: never
again.

Deborah Bacharach
Floating Bridge Review, 2012