When Israel heard the law from Sinai's top proclaimed,
their hearts were full of holy awe and stubborn spirits tamed.
Yet, forgetting all they knew, not forty days went past,
with blazing Sinai still in a view, a golden calf they cast.
They'd put their geld in Aaron’s hands, their riches torn away,
and begged for something new to lead them on their way.
He lit a fire and shaped their fear into a gleaming lie,
a cow that caught the gleaming sun and held their wandering eyes.
Around its neck they hung their hopes, and called it god anew,
and danced beneath its empty gaze as though it watched them too.
But Moses, from the mountain high, returned with words of flame,
while God rebuffed the fickle hearts that turned as soon he came.
Returned with the tablets carved by righteous divine will,
Moses judged the calf, the revelry, - and all was sudden still.
He rent the gold into a well, and made them drink their shame,
so every mouth would taste the cost of invoking idols’ names.