And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.

Genesis 31:53

Sharp trauma must have lingered on for good

in Isaac’s silent dazed humanity

halted by heaven; trembling laid on wood

too young to question father’s sanity.

Was it a light thing? To be thus withstood

by Jehovah’s awful benignity…

Faltering further up life’s mountain, would

he carry the damage with dignity?

This just might explain the forty-year wait—

meditating on the ram, on his fate.

The paralyzing laughter of his name

even after life unveiled in his tents.

A certain hesitation does make sense

in the son laid out on unkindled flame.