Zipporah's Knife

That first night on the way to Egypt,
when we stopped to camp, his God suddenly
became murderous. Moses cowered not not knowing
what to do or what he had done.
In a trance, I picked up a flint
and cut the foreskin
of Gershom, our first born,
then placed the bloody bit
at his father's feet.
Later, when it seemed I was
waking from a dream, I tried
to make light of all that strangeness.
Laughing, I recalled my own wedding
night blood, and told Moses he was surely
my bridegroom of blood now.
I still do not know
what prompted me to do what I did.
But I knew I had done my part
and I returned to Midian exhausted.

Word of the divine events in Egypt reached us
and my father took us to Moses in the desert.
Now I was a stranger in an alien land
until Miriam told me
I was the fourth of the magic circle -
that his mother, and Pharoah' daughter, and
Miriam herself had all saved him
and I was welcomed and more welcome
among the women.