Champions: Hebrews 1, Philistines 0
Reuven Goldfarb
War Poetry Contest 2011 (view all the winners)
Honorable Mention
"And the Philistine cursed David by his god."
—First Book of Samuel, 17:43
Goliath, by cursing David, denies David's God,
intending by this to rattle him, for he's a heckler.
Yet he's also David's cousin, descended from Orpah,
the sister of Ruth, three generations back.
To the spectators, he's the Philistines'
big slugger, their clean-up hitter, their Mighty Casey.
David is the rookie pitcher, the phenom.
He's the fireballer, with his sling and stone.
Goliath is a primordial creature, armed with a sword,
a spear—long and heavy as a weaver's beam—
and a javelin of brass. He's like the Cyclops
whom Odysseus killed by burning out his single eye
with a sharpened, red-hot stick of olive wood.
David slings a stone into the center of Goliath's forehead
that stretches him out, face down in the dirt.
Yes, David beaned him. One pitch—lights out.
They played the game rougher in those days.
