Mistake number one
He sent someone to me,
Mistake number two
It was a maid; that was funny.
Mistake number three
You wouldn’t believe,
It was the awful instruction
That I received.
Me, second to the king only
Can you dig this?
Dip in Jordan?
There must be something I missed.
And that wasn’t all
There was mistake number four:
Dip not one time
But six times more.
Back home in Damascus
We had Abana and Pharpar,
Compared to the River Jordan
These were cleaner by far.
I was so angry
That I just turned away,
I had come with hope
But it wasn’t my day.
I had heard about Elisha
A very great man indeed,
I had been convinced
That he could meet my need.
Surely if he had come out
And stood before me
I was definitely sure
He could heal my malady.
How dare he
Insult the second in command,
I can tell you now
That was not my plan.
That was it for me
Dip in Jordan?
Not a chance,
A dip in dirty Jordan
Couldn’t my skin enhance.
Just then my servants spoke
It was what they said,
Their words made sense
By them I was led.
One dip in dirty Jordan
But there was no change,
Two dips, three and then four
My skin still looked strange.
Down a fifth time
My skin looked no different,
If only you knew
How much this folly I resent.
I paused before the sixth
Then I took the dive,
My skin was still the same
My healing had not arrived.
Well I had dipped sixth times
Seven? Why
refuse?
I was now dirty all over
There was nothing to lose.
So down again I plunged
For dip number seven
And when I came up
That was like heaven.
I had never seen
Anyone’s skin so clean,
You could just imagine
With delight I screamed.
My pride was messier
Than the Jordan I’m sure
But for such an outcome
I could dip fifty times more.
Stewart Russell © May 2018
