And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near.
—1 Samuel 7 KJV
They looked up and vowed they’d never forget
that loud pealing of the heavens. Or how
the panicked Philistines fled.
They’d always remember this victory roar,
this swell in their chests, and would never forget
this song, this dance, this praise to him who helped.
They rattled their timbrels high and low around
Samuel’s remembrance stone,
forgetting
the altar a few drumbeats back where
a lamb lay, drained out and scorched,
his ashes riding the wind like
their forgotten sins.