for your father to return.
Point no finger
at your mother's unclothed back,
for you deserve the same;
you've grown into your own name
and so have we
--have I.
Stranger-son, watch
your father working in his fields.
His blood could not
run through your veins without
burning you now;
you've exchanged it for old ashes
and so have we
--have I.
*
Take someone else’s name, children,
and someone else’s blood:
join your mother in her sanctuary,
where Lo-ruhama is given mercy--
Lo-ammi is called “my own”--
Gomer is betrothed again, forever.
*
The farmer strides into the wilderness,
clears the land and sows it generously.
Unfaithful runaway hides herself
beneath his cloak and follows him home.
The field slowly grows tall,
waiting for the harvest.