Lady Wisdom calls in the streets
above the noise she cries:
“Simple ones, how long will you be
deceived by wicked lies?
Silly fools, you covet and seek
a life that’s free to live.
Scornful people, why do you mock
the wisdom that I give?”
Lady Wisdom dies in the way;
she’s murdered by the mob.
Wicked people now own the day;
they lie, destroy, and rob.
Ruling with a thirst for new blood,
they kill in search for life.
New Life’s herald breathes in the tomb;
there’s hope beneath the strife.
Lady Wisdom laughs in the streets
at those who thought they’d won.
Ruling not with a call of peace,
but with a sword she’s come.
Terror like a whirlwind is here,
calamity, a storm.
“Seed you’ve sown with Death’s darkest deeds,
and death to you is born.”
*****
The Full Poem with Scripture References
I try to write with an open Bible. Here are footnotes that reveal the Scripture references that prompted these lines.
Lady Wisdom calls in the streets[1]
above the noise she cries:[2]
“Simple ones, how long will you be
deceived by wicked lies?[3]
Silly fools, you covet and seek
a life that’s free to live.[4]
Scornful people, why do you mock
the wisdom that I give?”[5]
Lady Wisdom dies in the way;
she’s murdered by the mob.[6]
Wicked people now own the day;
they lie, destroy, and rob.[7]
Ruling with a thirst for new blood,
they kill in search of life. [8]
New Life’s herald breathes in the tomb;
there’s hope beneath the strife.[9]
Lady Wisdom laughs in the streets[10]
at those who thought they’d won.
Ruling not with a call of peace,
but with a sword, she’s come.
Terror like a whirlwind is here,
calamity, a storm.[11]
“Seed you’ve sown with Death’s darkest deeds,[12]
and death to you is born.”[13]
[1] Proverbs 1:20.
[2] Proverbs 1:21.
[3] Proverbs 1:22a.
[4] Proverbs 1:22c.
[5] Proverbs 1:22b.
[6] Lady wisdom is not killed in Proverbs 1, but in Proverbs 8, she is likened unto Christ (see especially verses 22-24) who was rejected and crucified. In 1 Corinthians, 1:18-25, the crucified Christ is the Wisdom of God that we preach.
[7] Proverbs 1:16.
[8] Proverbs 1:11, 13.
[9] See note 6. Proverbs 8:38.
[10] Proverbs 1:26.
[11] Proverbs 1:27.
[12] Proverbs 1:31.
[13] Proverbs 1:32; 1:18; 8:36.
Additional Notes
For more poetry, check out this poem from Psalm 118, “Save Us, O Lord.”
The artwork used is Deborah Praises Jael, by Gustave Dore (1865).
