A Continual Feast

Desperately distant, you swallowed the grief,
The sanguine sadness, the soul-killing pain,
That tempted your palette with swine’s cuisine,
And starved your fading faith until weak and profane.

Unworthy of privilege, you will still obtain favor;
The fountain of joy will be yours in the end;
I formed your hard heart into an object of mercy,
Securing your fate as my guest and my friend.

With a single word I’ll open the floodgates
Of unbridled laughter, of uncontrollable tears;
Flung into the arms of unadulterated pleasure,
You will cry without restraint for your vanquished fears.

If you draw near and drink from my chalice of joy,
And drown your sorrows ‘till your cup overflows,
You’ll see streams of cold water for your sorely-parched soul;
And you will quench your thirst in the river of delights.

Sit here, at my table while I conjure new wine,
And savor the feast of the fat of the land;
Crave the cordial of dreams, the cascade of delight,
And share in the banquet at my right hand.

Then watch as I fill your barns with plenty,
Overflowing your land with milk and honey;
An unabated abundance for your cruise of oil,
With copious firstfruits from fertile soil.

I’ll intoxicate your heart with a double portion
Of emotional caviar, of milk from the breast;
Eat the bread of kindness; sip the fruit of the vine;
A profusion of pleasure, a wellspring of rest.

Indulge yourself freely in the manna of grace;
Taste it and see that my love is good;
So earnestly sought but for so long withheld,
Your abundant harvest and the latter rain.

Continually revel in my sumptuous feast;
Sigh for pleasure; sink to deep, dreamless sleep.
Guiltlessly wallow in this reckless self-abandon
And the consummate torrent of desire fulfilled.

Draw near and drink from my chalice of joy;
Drown your sorrows ‘till your cup overflows;
There are streams of cold water for your sorely-parched soul;
So come, quench your thirst in the river of delights.