Remember David

By Royal Rhodes

---

Psalm 132 and 2 Samuel 6:14–23

​Before the Ark, lord David danced as king –
the thunderous Ark with cedar seraph wing
that spreads its holy gold across this hill.
The people saw his naked body fill
the threshing floor with every leap,
as if the calloused hand of God would reap
him in some human harvest, winds that gust,
that rise with urgent music from the dust.
His princess bride, the child of Saul, with scorn
had looked upon his beauty, as the horn
and cymbals drove him faster. She reviled
his body and would never bear his child.
She despised the blessings he engaged
by love for God, not for Saul or warfare waged:
not David wielding sword and iron rod,
but David dancing before the Ark of God.

---

Royal Rhodes taught religious studies for almost 40 years. His poems have appeared in various journals, including Ekstasis, Ekphrastic Review, The Seventh Quarry, and The Montreal Review, among others. His poetry and art collaborations have been published with The Catbird [on the Yadkin] Press in North Carolina.

Royal's other work on Foreshadow:
A Road Through Ohio Spring (Poetry, April 2023)
A Pilgrim's Song (Poetry, May 2023)
Journey to Silence (Poetry, July 2023)