metonymy, simile, and parallelism. The plan of this collection is to begin poems with my liberal adaptation of a Biblical reference in italics.
Readers are invited to view the biblical narrative through my lens and reflect them through their prism. The Bible is like a kaleidoscope, a treasure trove of many shapes and colors wandering about in a cylinder, in arrangements that captivate, in patterns which fascinate, reflecting motifs geometric, harmonious and symmetric. No matter the design one beholds, a people of beauty poignantly unfolds.
Norman M. Chansky, PhD
List of Abbreviations
Gen Genesis
Exod Exodus
Jdt Judith
Num Numbers
Wis Wisdom of Solomon
Deut Deuteronomy
Sir Sirach
Josh Joshua
Bar Baruch
Judg Judges1–3
Esd Esdras
Ruth Ruth
Ep Jer Letter of Jeremiah
1–2 Sam Samuel
Sg Three Song of Three Young Men
1–2 Kgs Kings
Sus Susanna
1–2 Chr Chronicles
Bel Bel and the Dragon
Ezra Ezra1–2
Macc Maccabees
Neh Nehemia
Pr Man Prayer if Manasseh
Esth Esther
Tob Tobias
Job Job
Ps Psalm
Prov Proverbs
Eccl Ecclesiastes
Song Song of Solomon
Isa Isaiah
Jer Jeremiah
Lam Lamentations
Ezek Ezekiel
Dan Daniel
Hos Hosea
Joel Joel
Amos Amos
Obad Obadiah
Jonah Jonah
Mic Micah
Nah Nahum
Hab Habbakuk
Zeph Zephania
Hag Haggai
Zech Zechariah
Mal Malachi
1 The Pentateuch
The First Seven Days: Version One
In the beginning God Created heaven and earth. The earth was unformed and dark. The Spirit of God Encircled the earth. And God Said “Let there be light.” And there was light. And God Saw that the light was good. Then God Separated the light from the darkness. And there was evening and morning on the first day. Gen I, 1–4. The earth was filled with water and God Made a Celestial Sphere and Separated waters beneath it and above it. God Called The Celestial Sphere “Heaven.” The second day ended. On the third day God Separated the waters beneath the Celestial Sphere and Called the dry land “Earth” which generated grasses, herbs, and all manner of trees. On the fourth day the Celestial Lights ( the sun, the moon, the stars, the planets) issued forth to illume the night and to mark the seasons. On the fifth day all manner of creatures inhabited the earth. On the sixth day God Created Humans to be merciful caretakers of Creation. On the seventh day, after all was finished, God Rested and Declared it Sabbath Ordained a holy day, to be kept every week as a joyous day of rest. Gen I, 6 ff.
Day 1. In the Beginning there was The Sacred Source,
Within which God, Perfect and Without Equal Exists.
From that Source endless, dark, multicolored, formless space
Arose and silently stretched its vastness
And returned to surround the Sacred Source.
Then did God Bless the expanding space.
God Exists in Space and Space reflects God’s Infinity.
Day 2. Then gasses formed and mixed rising vapors and prisms.
Then God Gathered clusters of gasses
And Cradled them and Pressed them closely and lovingly
Until multicolored fires ignited
And Scattered them to give birth to orbs of suns and stars.
And the stars released oxygen into the cosmos.
Each heavenly light shone God’s Dazzling Radiance and spread God’s Thermonuclear Warmth.
Then did God Bless the suns and stars and all astral generations.
Then did each fiery orb release many kinds of dust, each with its own electrical charges.
Some dusts drifted aimlessly; others slammed into one another and formed mass;
Some hardened into rocks; others melted into rivers of metal.
God Exists in suns, stars, sands, rocks and they reflect God’s Creative Fires.
Day 3. Then God Gathered and Combined emerging gasses and dusts
And Formed planets, each with its own distance from the Sun;
Each with its own motion:
Each with its own orbit according to an ordained schedule.
No planet falling; no planet failing; each held in place by gravity.
Then were the planets and their seasons Blessed
For they were all good to God.
God Exists in planets whose rhythm reflect God’s Peerless Design.
Day 4. Gasses spread and surrounded the Earth planet,
Admitting Light so
