Ruth

“When the judges judged”
Israel spinning out of control
Faithlessness sprouting like weeds
Devouring, leaving a concubine
Hacked, packed, and shipped
In a dozen pieces

In those days, in Moab—
enemy territory, a young woman
lost husband, father-in-law
yet wouldn’t give up
on the one who called herself “bitter”
“my people will be your people
My God, your God,
Where you die, there
I will die too.”

Destitute, empty, hungry
They return to town
and Ruth begins to glean,
the lowest occupation in town

And God turns the tables
And the hesed Ruth showed
Comes back to meet her
And in the field she meets a man
And finds a family
And becomes
the great-great-grandmother
Of Israel’s greatest king.