Jonah

 A purple whale 
Proudly sweeps his tail 
Towards Nineveh; 
Glassy green 
Surges between
A mile of roaring sea.
 

“O town of gold, 
Of splendour multifold, 
Lucre and lust, 
Leviathan’s eye
Can surely spy 
Thy doom of death and dust.
” 

On curving sands 
Vengeful Jonah stands.
 
“Yet forty days,
Then down, down, 
Tumbles the town 
In flaming ruin ablaze.
” 

With swift lament 
Those Ninevites repent.

They cry in tears, 
“Our hearts fail!” 
The whale, the whale! 
Our sins prick us like spears.
” 

Jonah is vexed;
He cries, “What next? what next?” 
And shakes his fist.
 
“Stupid city, 
The shame, the pity, 
The glorious crash I’ve missed.
”

Away goes Jonah grumbling, 
Murmuring and mumbling; 
Off ploughs the purple whale, 
With disappointed tail.

Biography | Poems | Best Poems | Short Poems | Quotes | Email Poem |

Poems are below...