A Poem for Philip

A Poetic Review of Esther 1-6, by Scott Kelly, for Philip in honor of his visit to Christchurch today.

King of Persia
throws a Party,
banished Vashti
(she was a smarty).

King needs new queen,
holds queen contest.
King picks Esther
‘cause she looked best.

Esther’s cousin
(dude’s named Mordecai)
foils assasins’ plot
‘cause he’s a good guy.

Haman’s second to the king
so Mordecai must bow.
But Mord-y won’t and so that means
that Haman’s real mad now.

Haman talks King into
killing every single Jew
in 127 provinces
(that means Esther and Mord’y too!)

Will Esther tell her secret
that she is Jewish too?
Or will she just stay quiet
and hang with the pagan crew?

Then Mordecai calls Esther out,
so she says “Fast for me,
and then I’ll go into the King
on morning number three.”

She risks all when she bugs the king
but he holds out his scepter
When King sees Esther in the hall
he’s awfully glad he kept her.

“What is it Queen?” “Come to my feast
made just for you and Haman.”
(She’s waiting for the perfect time
to spill the beans and name him.)

Haman’s glad for his position
but Mordecai won’t rise
So Haman builds a gallows
to kill him before all eyes.

But just so happens King can’t sleep
so book of deeds is read
And just so happens King’s reminded
Mord-y helped him not be dead.

And just so happens Haman
is there walking just outside
King asks Haman, “What should I do
for a man in whom I pride?”

Haman thinks it must be him,
“Get robe and horse and crown
and get another of your men
to praise him all through town.”

‘Twas Mordecai honored instead,
it all seems so ironic
one thing that we have learned so far
is God is quite a comic!

Pick up the story in the next section of the book of Esther, the partial deliverance recounted for us in Esther 6:12-7:10.