The Outing

Isaac was secretly on his cell phone:

Hey, Ishmael, brother! Guess what—

Dad took me camping.

Yeah, we went up to the old Mt. Moriah picnic spot.

Had to rebuild the grill.

But, you know, Dad's gotten a little stranger

in his old old-age.

He seemed to be into S & M,

sacrifice on Moriah,

if you know what I mean.

So I let him bind me,

and I climbed onto the grill.

But when he pulled out his knife,

I thought enough was enough.

"Hey, Dad," I said. "look, there's a goat

caught in that thicket.

Let's cook him instead."

He cocked his head as though

hearing some other voice,

but then said OK.

So we had barbequed wild goat for dinner,

and went home,

and that was that.

So what's new with you?

Keith Tornheim, October 2011