Inspired by Antonio Castillo Saavedra’s masterpiece
Stripped of his ornamental tunic
By his jealous, impulsive brothers,
Joseph sits cramped inside a dry well,
As if inside a cavernous dungeon,
Bewildered, like a lost lonely sheep;
Then, he’s startled by a falling rope --
He instinctively grips it and
Suddenly, he’s jerked upwards,
His eyes observing the misty clouds
That seem to be swirling in confusion
Above him in the cold dark sky;
After being yanked out of the well
And thrown roughly to the ground
By one of his very own brothers,
He wearily looks up at an
Astonished Midianite merchant,
Who carefully looks him over
With a shrewd business-like eye
Before buying him, on the spot,
For a bargain of twenty shekels;
As Joseph slowly walks alongside
This cheerful good-natured trader,
He wonders what God’s plans will be
For him in the distant land of Egypt.