This is the proclamation [the king] issued in Nineveh:
Jonah 3:7-9
“By the decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
It may be that -
after the hate and division
the sins of omission
the clickbait, the baiting -
at the end of our waiting
we find
that our foe
is kneeling beside us
and the walls once inside us
can crumble at Mercy's
soft subsonic shout
and Nineveh's ashes
Jerusalem's ashes
Washington's ashes
Australia's ashes
are as a fragrance poured forth
which I Am shall adore
and all of our knees
shall climb to the floor
and all shall be well
when Mercy beats hell
at the sound of ten thousand
knees hitting the ground.
The Consolations of Writing 