Psalm 137 (Revenge)

In this Psalm of Complaint, the Jews – exiled in Babylon– beg God for revenge on those who killed their children. I took poetic license by recalling the Crucifixion in the upper register, where soldiers impale the Israeli infants. The lower register depicts the Israelites grieving the death of their children. The passage of text beneath them is from verse 9 and is meant to suggest a river: “How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones against the rock.” This also recalls the psalm’s first verse, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion,” a line that has become a popular hymn for my generation.