God came to Abram,
Abram the man
Who knew no glory
Could resist God’s ban,
And God said: ‘Abram
I come to destroy
Sodom, Sodom,
Sodom, Sodom,
That golden city
Of sin and joy’
Thunder. Thunder. Thunder. Thunder.
Death is terrible, a thing of wonder.
First is a lethargy that no man likes,
Then comes the moment when the lightning strikes.
Then Abram, trying
To save that place,
Thinking of the dying,
Fell upon his face.
‘Lord, if there were fifty
Righteous men
In Sodom, Sodom,
Sodom, Sodom,
Men who were steadfast,
Would you destroy it then?’
Heaven knows what payment
An advocate should ask,
But old man Abram
Had the hardest task.
He looked at Sodom
And he heard God’s voice:
‘Sodom, Sodom,
Sodom, Sodom;
Hide not the city
That my hand destroys.’
And Abram was trying
To save that place.
He lay for a long time
And could not lift his face.
‘White though the lightning
Where the thunder rolls
Towards Sodom, Sodom,
Sodom, Sodom,
I shall not destroy it
If there are fifty souls.’
And Abram pondered.
He could not make amends.
It lightened and thundered.
He counted up his friends.
‘Lord God, have patience.
May flesh be left alive
In Sodom, Sodom,
Sodom, Sodom,
That doomed city,
If the fifty lack five?
The Lord God darkened
Like a fiery cloud.
Abram waited
As he lay there bowed;
He saw Hell’s demons
In a midnight dive
In Sodom, Sodom,
Sodom, Sodom.
‘I shall not destroy it
For the forty-and-five.?
‘Lord God, have patience.
Destruction is just;
To hide the accursed
In the darkest dust.
But should there be forty
In the temple found
Of Sodom, Sodom,
Sodom, Sodom,
Then would you brand it,
Raze it to the ground?
Abram breathed.
A long breath he took.
He thought of the temple,
And the temple shook.
Monsters of sacrilege
Sprawled where it stood
In Sodom, Sodom,
Sodom, Sodom.
‘I would not brand it
For the forty good.
And Abram knew,
Abram knew,
This was the hardest
Peace for which to sue.
‘Lord God, forgive me
That I should speak again
Of Sodom, Sodom,
Sodom, Sodom.
Would you spare the city
For thirty good men?’
Thunder. Thunder. Thunder. Thunder.
Death is terrible, a thing of wonder.
First is a lethargy that no man likes,
Then comes the moment when the lightning strikes.
And Abram counted.
Try as he would
He could not make the number up
To thirty good.
The Judgment’s answer
Came upon him then:
‘Tell Sodom, Sodom,
Sodom, Sodom,
I shall not destroy it
For thirty good men.
Abram was silent.
Abram was dumb.
He heard Hell’s demons
Beating on a drum.
He saw men carried
Under long, slim poles
Through Sodom, Sodom,
Sodom, Sodom.
‘Lord, would you save it
For twenty souls?’
This was the last time.
This was the last.
Now for the brimstone
And the blinding blast.
He saw huge darkness
Like a hangman’s hood
On Sodom, Sodom,
Sodom, Sodom.
‘I still would spare it
For the twenty good.’
‘Lord, Thou art just.
Lord, Thou art just.
How should we utter
Who are less than dust?
Yet, so wicked
Are the hearts of men
In Sodom, Sodom,
Sodom, Sodom,
Still would you spare it
If the good were ten?”
Fearful the silence,
Fearful the span
Stretching that moment
Between God and man.
Abram sweated
His life out then
For Sodom, Sodom,
Sodom, Sodom.
‘I shall not destroy it
If the good are ten.’
Abram the father
Counting up the cost
Saw faith plainly
And knew that he had lost.
God looked at Sodom
In that pleading place,
Sodom, Sodom,
Sodom, Sodom.
Down looked Abram,
And he lost his case.
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