YOU ARE HERE: LAT HomeCollections  From . . .Sarah By PHILIP
APPLEMAN  March 17, 1991| This fragment of the haggling between
Abraham and God (over how many righteous men had to be found to
save the city of Sodom from destruction) is an excerpt from the
longer poem "Sarah," in "Let There Be Light" (HarperCollins:
$21.95). 1991 by Philip Appleman.  When I dare to look,  they're
still nose to nose,  my poor Abe quaking like a weed in a
windstorm,  but firm in his nephew's cause,  and God, gone white
as a thunderhead, but so far  not losing His temper the way He
always did  down in Egypt, blazing away  at everything that
moved.  Pretty soon He nods a bit,  like a camel trader who's
just been outwitted,  and mutters, "All right, Abraham,  you
find me fifty diamonds  in that dirt, and I'll back off."  He
turns to go, and finally,  I can breathe again. But then
Abraham calls out,  "God! Yahweh! Listen! I'm a nothing,  I'm
the dirt under your sandals,  I'm the ashes from your campfire,
I'm a pest, forgive me for as