Rebbitzin's Tattoo

2012-02-13T13:00:00.000-08:00

again you have your personal code
found ever at your elbow
and an uncapped pen

it was that look, from over there,
that primed the well
for drawing

again you offer your matching gift
of silence from afar
when your breath in my ear

would quench this thirst.
an empty bucket on a rope
dangles over a blank page

2012-02-09T20:55:00.000-08:00

setting a setting
to convey intrigue
and coax

secrets encoded in color
evocative of what is not
yet open

a rolled wax candle,
burned just at it's long wick's tip
in our matching hue

2012-02-07T21:33:00.001-08:00

not every dream
is a good poem
but every poem is a dream

Nothing Twice

2012-02-03T08:24:00.001-08:00

by Wislawa Szymborska
translated by Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak

Nothing can ever happen twice.
In consequence, the sorry fact is
that we arrive here improvised
and leave without the chance to practice.

Even if there is no one dumber,
if you're the planet's biggest dunce,
you can't repeat the class in summer:
this course is only offered once.

No day copies yesterday,
no two nights will teach what bliss is
in precisely the same way,
with precisely the same kisses.

One day, perhaps some idle tongue
mentions your name by accident:
I feel as if a rose were flung
into the room, all hue and scent.

The next day, though you're here with me,
I can't help looking at the clock:
A rose? A rose? What could that be?
Is it a flower or a rock?

Why do we treat the fleeting day
with so much needless fear and sorrow?
It's in its nature not to stay:
Today is always gone tomorrow.

With smiles and kisses, we prefer
to seek accord beneath our star,
although we're different (we concur)
just as two drops of water are.

2012-01-31T09:35:00.000-08:00

your face - as clear a vision
a conjuring, a plea
an ideal moment in a possible future

your voice - an echo in a tunnel
to my weak heart
unheard and unspoken

I will surely disintegrate if I am too far
down your earthen path
when I am so used to sand

this world - though stitched
with golden thread
defines the drape behind which you keep

silence amplifies our love
and our dreams of an ideal moment
in a possible future

and in our bravery - when we speak
our radiant joy, though it will not last,
will be a shard collected

2012-01-27T13:55:00.000-08:00

what is never framed
cannot beautify, but sits instead
unloved in a pile

under the Nile, the silt
flows under the boats though
no one notices

smiles from beyond surround us
so sign up for more
and be satisfied

Gentle Admonition

2012-01-18T08:51:00.000-08:00

thinking about doing
what is right is not the same
as doing what is right

what is most important
only has impact
if it is made most important

sunshine and birdsong
seep into your soul
only when you venture outside

so venture and make
your soul what is right
let light seep in and impact

2012-01-10T10:52:00.000-08:00

Those who turn the many to tzedakah shall shine like the stars
-- Daniel 12:3

walk strong and point so
what is far away and continuous
appears as a point on the horizon

2012-01-09T10:52:00.001-08:00

despite a dirty window
or our ugly impositions
a blue sky's abundant beauty

Occupy (11/9/11)

2011-11-09T20:50:00.000-08:00

acknowledge the reality
assert your power
peaceably assemble and make your voices heard

2011-11-04T07:09:00.000-07:00

we may not sit together
in quiet conversation
I fear

2011-11-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

you come running to love
but meet a closed gate instead.
and yet,

you come running again --
all the world should learn
to love the way you do

Into A Fall

2011-11-02T21:07:00.000-07:00

you live in my lap
as I drive through the wind
and struggle to breathe

2011-10-24T14:17:00.001-07:00

Welcome Home

2011-10-17T22:41:00.000-07:00

for Gilad Shalit

deep in the night
we cannot rest
we wait for your crossing

from icy night
through the narrowest opening
to your own back door

where we prepare to wash your feet
and feed you
and find your lost song

lingering in the grass
and in the sunshine that rises
this glorious day

2011-07-21T10:57:00.001-07:00

found poem

Across
"And ___ bed"
Personification of desire

2011-07-14T12:59:00.001-07:00

life's daily mess
invites me to jump in
and get dirty

2011-07-06T20:04:00.000-07:00

your name passes before my heart
bidden by the clouds
both illuminated and ominous

2011-06-28T16:54:00.000-07:00

everyday sustenance allows you to bypass
expenses, lessons and stats
in favor of happy and excited and tired

2011-06-27T17:10:00.001-07:00

mysterious gurgling to the left
patience to the right
you at the center

2011-06-24T13:34:00.001-07:00

2011-06-24T12:57:00.001-07:00

another attempt at cleanliness
side by side
we scrub

2011-06-23T19:17:00.001-07:00

instead of waiting to be fed
smell the grass or nap
in the delicious sun

2011-06-22T17:42:00.001-07:00

your heart beats the skins
through the open door
I hear your beautiful cacophony

You Shall Further Instruct: Epigram

2011-06-07T14:43:00.001-07:00

“An Epigram is a short, witty poem or saying that is easy to remember and is written to be remembered. …Epigrams have no particular form except their brevity (two, four or six lines) and their way of getting right to the point.”
-Handbook of Poetic Forms, 67

My Lord, I thank you for the honor
of anointing me and my sons
but we’d rather not smear warm blood
on our ears, toes and thumbs

Sent Away: Couplet

2011-06-07T14:42:00.001-07:00

“The couplet is a couple, or pair, of lines of poetry, usually rhymed. Basically, by having two equal parts, the couplet is a simple and fundamental structure that reflects so many other basic structures in and around us, such as the human body’s two eyes, two ears, two hands, and so on, as well as our thought patterns of yes/no, up/down, and good/bad.”
-Handbook of Poetic Forms, 57,58

The Lord hurled the Pharoah into the sea
Both to gain glory and so I could be free

In thanks, I sing praises and work as I’m called.
True glory for God: joyful freedom for all

2011-06-07T12:22:00.001-07:00

good news in the night
energizes and calms
like steaming green tea

Mild Dysplasia

2011-06-07T12:17:00.001-07:00

Belly full of gratitude held tightly
to your chest, you will be brought, strapped to a board,
to an expectant place by an as yet unknown wind.
Toothless, you poke at my heart
every three hours in a dreamstate, your lips
pursed to kiss the cherubim that are an unshared secret;
I fancy myself a secret-sharer though I am, in truth,
simply a receptacle akin to a plastic bottle or a casket.
(You too will become a simple light bulb, abandoning
these days of neon waves without understanding. It is a fruit-bearing cycle.)
You live in a fortified moment
while I, joyfully, pump myself dry.

Renewing Poetry

2011-06-07T12:15:00.000-07:00

This first true tear in a page
is my freedom to be more brutal and more liberal.
Bitter flow, foaming shouts, flowers on a darkening street.

The way words work between chubby fingers,
the work words do in the world,

words work on the world like lipstick,
chicken soup, nausea, and unexplained explosions,
often all at once.

I imagine myself dancing in black hot pants and boots,
wild and uninhibited. I also imagine myself as aloof
as everyone else. Somewhere in between is my song.

Time is a dwarf, a cut flower.
I will lose myself in the matching and choosing.

I will enter and be entered, and my face
will glow. Sweet smells will rise
from my fingers because it is no sin to uncover nakedness
before the beloved and I am here
to love you.

2011-01-31T19:56:00.000-08:00

too tired to work late
too old to caffeinate
or else I'll sleep late

2011-01-20T21:31:00.001-08:00

in the balance of give and receive
the truest gift
is the balance

Haiku for Tucson

2011-01-20T21:28:00.001-08:00

original whirl among dirt & dead
bullets fly from our mouths
as we debate whether bullets are deadly

2011-01-20T21:27:00.001-08:00

another haiku lost
next time
pull over

Sarah's Life: A Ballade

2010-10-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

"The ballade is a fairly complicated verse form with a heavy stress on rhyme. It is an old form. French in origin,...of three stanzas, followed by an envoi (a short final stanza) that addresses an important person and sums up the point of the poem."
--Handbook of Poetic Forms, 21

Sarah died brokenhearted
for the sake of a beloved son
and while Abraham bartered
strange souls of God, a choice cave of Ephron,
Sarah was, at heart, alone.
In her dreams, a bloody knife,
a reckless king, a child's bone --
the span of Sarah's life.

Chosen -- forced -- a life apart
mercy rarely shown
in exchange, a bed too hard --
too beautiful -- unreal conditions
and far from home.
Adrift in tidal winds of strife
so much unknown --
the span of Sarah's life.

While new gold bands adorn her arms,
Rebekah, though also chosen,
chooses. Though offered her part
in God's story, though driven,
she goes, willingly, to Canaan
to become a rich young wife.
She is drawn and she responds.
The span of Sarah's life.

Daughter, reap what our mother has sown --
new mistress of the tent, strive
to surf God's wild stormwinds blown
-- the span of Sarah's life.

2010-10-27T00:53:00.001-07:00

need to add to the ballad of Abraham
stuck in the mud of rhyme
and time

Go Yourself Forth Allegory

2010-10-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

"An allegory is a story whose characters, things, and happenings have another meaning. Allegories are written to explain ideas about good and evil, or about moral or religious principles."
--Handbook of Poetic Forms, 7

A person was chosen to journey to an unknown home or maybe chose himself (he happened to be a man). It was said he would be blessed and of great name. On that day it was said and only he heard but time would prove the promise true. The person traveled with others whom he loved, among them his beautiful wife. She was chosen to journey (or maybe chose herself) and she endured many hardships. Were they happy? Unknown. They sojourned with some, separated from others. Together they were as barren as dust and warfare filled their tents. And though victorious against kings, their mouths were dry. They split their sacrifices. He congregated in an aisle of blood that he himself spilled. She sat in the mouth of her tent, counting stars. At her insistence, he betrayed her; she chose and her heart turned cold. Their journey seemed to go amiss but in truth it did not. Their names were changed to confuse the demons that plagued their hearts, and they added quiet breath to the letters they claimed. Was it enough? Unknown. He spilled more blood, this time his own, and surely she cried out. A chosen journey gives birth to stars, breathes life into names. A journey chosen reveals the unknown home of the heart and a legacy of dust.

2010-10-13T23:41:00.001-07:00

struggling with the allegory of going forth
unsure of the lesson of the command
within us to journey home

Noah Acrostic

2010-10-08T09:21:00.000-07:00

"...the basic acrostic is a poem in which the first letters of the lines, read downwards, form a word, phrase, or sentence."
--Handbook of Poetic Forms, 5

Now this is the line
Of all that lives, of all flesh
And the floodgates of the sky burst open
He was blameless in his age
Never again will I doom the earth
Of all that lives, of all flesh
And the floodgates of the sky burst open
He drank of the wine and became drunk
An altar to the Name
Require a reckoning, I will require it
I will see it and remember
God caused a wind to blow
He was blameless in his age
Two each of all flesh
Earth was filled with lawlessness
Of all that lives, of all flesh
Upon the Earth, increase
Some are guilty; all are responsible
Make an opening for daylight in the ark
And the floodgates of the sky burst open
Now this is the line

Beginning Abstract II

2010-10-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

(to be spoken aloud)

began create being sweeping said was saw separated. called called was was. said let separate made separated was so. called was was. said let gathered appear was called called saw. said sprout was so brought saw was was. said let separate serve serve shine was. made dominate dominate set dominate separate saw was was said. bring created fly brought saw blessed saying be fill let was was. said bring was. made saw said make rule. created created created blessed said be fill master rule said see give be saw found was was. were finished doing. ceased done blessed declared ceased. done is created.

Beginning Abstract I

2010-10-08T09:11:00.000-07:00

"...words are removed from sentences and meaning...words become secondary to their sound..."
--Handbook of Poetic Forms, 1

braised sheet bra Elohim ate hush um my yam vet ha! arrest veer ha! ah! rest hai! ta tofu and vote who and ho! shekel penny to home very ach! Elohim merry hat trick I'll play ha! my hymn

Further - 9/21/10

2010-09-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

risers sway underfoot
and yes, it does matter,
but not tonight

tonight we open the door
to the future of confusion
in pursuit of clarity

we pass our songs
to our sleeping children
and cherish our own youthful days

we spread tonight
the veil of hope over our eyes
and play notes of love in the air

A Song for Elul: Grateful Dead - 4-17-72 - I Know You Rider

2010-08-20T00:17:00.000-07:00

2010-08-16T21:39:00.001-07:00

it was you, and I name you
my god, you happened
and I am amazed

2010-08-11T09:50:00.001-07:00

what a gift, a saddle,
to cushion the bumpy ride
into the daily sunset

2010-08-09T15:53:00.000-07:00

salt and pepper on a hard-cooked egg
childhood tone poem
a good day's work

Flotilla

2010-07-08T16:17:00.001-07:00

the ground is still wet
impelled to be quiet
shivering in the delicious chill

writing lines I don't understand
about plotting to kill others
to wage war and court suffering

true stillness is a hole
that's been filled, a hole
that's been dug in the earth with our hands

filled with the music of machines
the music of motors
and screams of the suffering

to return to silence together
to know we are loved and to love
every human to love

to live in peace
with all creatures
in spite of our urge

against evolved self-control
to not lash out in anger
with violence

to reach and to rise
to do no harm first
to love me and know I love you

2010-06-21T21:35:00.000-07:00

if the only limit is your imagination
what's happening? what's not to change the world?
don't pretend to sleep -- run & burrow & breathe deeply

young wife

2010-06-11T08:29:00.000-07:00

written in 1995;
posted in celebration of our 15th wedding anniversary

she dreams, coming
home from the market. sacks
swing from her fingers
brush her legs
bump her hips, her skin
anticipates
satisfying her husband's hunger
with her special sauce
and the approaching sunset and tomorrow and tomorrow

honey moon

2010-06-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

written in 1995;
posted in celebration of our 15th wedding anniversary

you're a Superman pool toy
on you stretched out belly down
I can fly

you call me green olive
without the pit
you sing tapioca pudding

laughing
the super market will be open
late tonight

a folly foretold

2010-06-02T07:55:00.000-07:00

after David Grossman, writing from Jerusalem

how insecure, confused and panicky
the natural continuation of the shameful
prepared to embitter

and somehow, all these calamities
fearfully aware of the mess
becomes ever more inflexible

I would like to believe
above all, this insane operation
typified... freshness, originality, creativity

already there are those
to blame... our shame
however, will be harder

Love Letter

2010-05-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

imagine kissing
in a garden near a lemon tree
under twinkling lights

in a forgotten chapel
on a park bench at midnight
in a deserted ballroom

imagine kissing
on a low wall
in the air alive

against a high wall
feeling pressure and hunger
which is desire

to imagine kissing
is release
desire is release

the nature of desire
is not to have
but to want

On Losing CC

2010-05-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

thinking about giving in pink ink
about greed and generosity
and community beyond self-interest

having hand-watered the entry garden
this hot spring evening
and taken down the signs

children holding hands, walking forward
into a green, positive future
-- but not on my dime, said the neighbor

so what will become of the neighborhood
that values not sacrifice or service
that values acquisition and politics

and it crops up again and again
in the sound of running sprinklers
despite a forecast of rain

in a lack of lovingkindess
today's children
are shortchanged

awaken neighbor
to the cries outside your window
this hot spring evening

2010-04-28T14:56:00.000-07:00

a dream of theater and preaching
stopped my day cold
before it began

and in brown sugar
I hid and in a screen of light
I hid and in your gaze

I will not hide nor will I be
inside your stone tower
or in your heart

Right Now

2010-04-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

though the wood would not burn
you sucked bitter sweetness
right down gullet

into belly and pulsating
outwards through limbs and right
out of digits

illuminating space around
your sparkling geode and your colorful eye
your tinctures and your candlesticks

holy bitter sweetness
that is life not as obvious
as one might hope

but true as every written word
inducing faith and passion
holy bitter sweet love

2010-04-11T21:01:00.000-07:00

by Emily Dickinson

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee.
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.

2010-04-11T20:57:00.001-07:00

asked by a stranger on FB
are you TG or GG?
feeling flattered and freaked
and assuredly fabulous

2010-04-06T20:25:00.000-07:00

humility
what is that called
candle still burns

2010-03-15T23:44:00.001-07:00

redeemable during our season
core power became
anywhere

2010-03-15T23:36:00.001-07:00

clearing clutter
clearing mind
creating peace

2010-03-15T23:33:00.001-07:00

deep in green mountains
birds and memories
tell the future

2010-03-10T17:00:00.000-08:00

winter day gazing
aloe lemon bougainvilla
swaying palms frame a mountaintop

Edward Hirsch on Reading Poetry

2010-02-23T12:37:00.000-08:00

not a poem, but a great short interview piece...

http://bigthink.com/edwardhirsch

She Understands Me

2010-02-16T21:32:00.000-08:00

by Lucille Clifton (1936-2010)
in grateful memory

it is all blood and breaking,
blood and breaking, the thing
drops out of its box squalling
into the light. they are both squalling,
animal and cage. her bars lie wet, open
and empty and she has made herself again
out of flesh out of dictionaries,
she is always emptying and it is all
the same wound the same blood the same breaking.

The Latest

2010-02-09T20:59:00.001-08:00

keeps going left
back to work
in a garden of clouds

hoping not to get caught
in other people's weather
one more time

still awakening last night
while alarms sound ever closer
to the storm

you are a soul
a challenging luxury
not to be complacent

surprised by the heft
but not by ubiquitous voice
or your shadow left in the night

Prayer for Haiti on Shabbat

2010-02-05T18:37:00.000-08:00

from lack,
may abundance flourish

from fear,
may strength grow

from destruction,
may compassion and connection
take flight

a winter meal when you're not home

2010-01-25T19:34:00.000-08:00

after e.e. cummings

thick pea soup and a simple omelette
israeli salad

(juicy tomatoes and firm cucumbers
fresh squeezed lemon juice and virgin olive oil
pepper and salt)

and spicy green
tea

Tattoo Stats

2010-01-13T11:30:00.000-08:00

found poem with apologies/thanks to Sue Swartz

Approximately 1 in every 4 Americans age 18-50 has a tattoo
This is up from 16% in 2003
No one is keeping numbers on the over-50 crowd
One third of all 18-25 year olds have at least one tattoo
Among the 26-40 age group, it’s 40%
31% of people with tattoos are gay, lesbian or bisexual
34% of people with tattoos feel sexier because they are tattooed
29% feel more rebellious
Democrats are more likely to be tattooed than Republicans,
though the latter are more likely to regret
their decision to be inked

Random Treat Thank You

2009-12-28T18:37:00.000-08:00

snow snow snow

I know

say ashrei with me

god's glow

light and faraway fire

reminding

morning noon and night

I shall return

please wait quietly

a jaunty jolt

the very air

fine pink

woody shots of rosemary

and lantana

now clean of fallen leaves

my name on a street sign

for the first time

since childhood

you may not think I'm pretty

say ashrei with me

we've just to try on

not a bad mind either

comes of light in the distance

humility just realized

oddment

tweak

thank you

like this

manners taught by example

I'm half and half

there's so much to learn

curing an environment

onto the page

a ribbon twisted into words

and away we go

ubiquitous

Status 2009

2009-12-23T12:23:00.000-08:00

contemplating new directions
and strategies for my life
a great yoga class
today
sick of war and killing and assault
particularly in tune with the synergy
in my life no longer employed
as a teacher
just hopeful
simultaneously idling and noodling
eating toast
deserves a treat hunkering down
meditate this morning
starting to think focus
on remaining uplifted in my life
immersed in daily practices received
three pink and red birthday bouquets
rhyme time subconscious mind
preparing for the Queen
optimistically overwhelmed juggling
battery operated rain one or two hours a week
phone calls money bickering tools
and always chocolate love
shooby doo wop doo wah
loves the smell of damp chapparal
feeling productive, joyful and blessed
lost a gorgeous essential tree
in memory we've named it
in my life
loves

A Poem by Marge Piercy

2009-12-02T00:11:00.000-08:00

in memory of Yona Kollin

Kaddish

Look around us, search above us, below, behind.
We stand in a great web of being joined together.
Let us praise, let us love the life we are lent
passing through us in the body of Israel
and our own bodies, let's say amen.

Time flows through us like water.
The past and the dead speak through us.
We breathe out our children's children, blessing.

Blessed is the earth from which we grow,
Blessed the life we are lent,
blessed the ones who teach us,
blessed the ones we teach,
blessed is the word that cannot say the glory
that shines through us and remains to shine
flowing past distant suns on the way to forever.
Let's say amen.

Blessed is light, blessed is darkness,
but blessed above all else is peace
which bears the fruits of knowledge
on strong branches, let's say amen.

Peace that bears joy into the world,
peace that enables love, peace over Israel
everywhere, blessed and holy is peace, let's say amen.

4 Mile Shuffle

2009-11-16T20:40:00.000-08:00

Outside & Inside
(Only) Halfway to Everywhere

Mezzanine
Indian Summer Sky

Hey Hey My My
Yours

For Allen Ginsberg

2009-11-13T11:24:00.000-08:00

whacked out by vision through horn rims
driven by a lust for life and men and justice and aim and ohm
pervert hero, you masturbated publicly hiding your hand under your poetry

an American poet, the grimy sublime of being
sexy tripping along the boardwalk of the world
naked high and free as the ruby sun

I think of you as I watch pigeons mating in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty and ripe young suits have a game of catch through the lunch hour
I think of you when my poems get noticed for their naughty words
I think of you when I capitalize myself

The Human Condition

2009-11-13T11:19:00.000-08:00

like a pine cone
landing with a dull thud
destined to become so much brown mulch

knocking loose some fertile kernel
which may take root and become
a masterpiece

look up
through the dry needles
the innocent waste of age

see the symmetry of sky
and trees and sounds of birds
and the sun hiding in the little forest

NOW-pass our free test and...

2009-11-06T12:35:00.000-08:00

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a found poem

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Of course, we don't guarantee publication.
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Why I Am A Pacifist

2009-10-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

The parents of my parent's parents
made their way to where
I would not know
from hunger pangs, pogroms,
a fate cast in fire

Their memories are for blessing

They cracked the yoke
of violence born
of fear and lack
so that I might bear only
what weight I choose. And I do,
carrying hope and my blood's memory
of slavery and sacrifice
like shiny epaulets, dangling
from my clean, grateful shoulders.

The streets I walk are golden,
I am more at ease
than even in their dreams.
I see this sacred world
not through their bloodshot eyes
and for this
to bless them for this blessing
daring to imagine
and for my children's children
I am a pacifist.

Eaton Canyon Psalm

2009-10-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

two logs of perfect complement
balance between two rocks
over raucous waters

ever watchful
of the watch
layers of listening

to whom rushing reeds, canyon quarry
to whom glowing hoary hills
just beyond unseen snow

to you of course
to all of you
to your unusualness

what else can one offer a wedged log in need
save prayer
each end, a celebration

in the next world
there will be time
to tell of all you've seen so far

Remembrance

2009-10-13T13:44:00.000-07:00

an abundance of wine
a small bag of avocados
and parentheses

my gifts are wrapped and ready
in this love poem to my soul
on this night of six million deaths

today is a gift
that's why it's called the present
if this is correct, press one

Holy Holy Holy

2009-10-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

balanced and complete
freedom and safety
calm and ecstatic

grant that I understand and be understood

confident that you get my meaning
even better than myself

in the ongoing unconscious dialogue
mother and mentor
missing and known

not empirical truth
nor many truths
nor many versions of the truth

truth is multidimensional
all and more
unknowable

each citizen a translation of the founding word
each society a document in humanity's holy canon

fear is in your head
so forget your head
and you'll be free

feel your power
suppress tendency to fantasize
that the good stuff is out of reach

Yom Kippur Haiku

2009-09-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

the flag that waves, the leaves that whirl
speak the who each we should be
despite passing squawks or sirens

Missive

2009-09-08T21:37:00.000-07:00

after A.S. Byatt

on my safe stool
to lifeless dust
no lightening struck

burned and utterly
small light
peace of my beloved

like straw on a dry day
and a deal
that holds its shape

and infintesimal moment
random speaks
threatened solitude

I read your mind
but I say
this has extended from the clearing

as unknown others
proceed apace
and forgive me

Each Learning

2009-09-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

for Martha & Andy

Marriage and Torah --
the essence remains
week after week, year

after year. Sometimes
in song, sometimes on page
or parchment, or at tables laden

with bread and guests,
we pass through a cycle
of again revealing

what is yet to be
learned. Earth is born
each time Adam

and Eve eat together;
Rachel and Jacob, in love,
suffer and redeem;

longing and ecstasy
read fresh, at a new
time, a new table.

Love, I am reborn
each day you love me,
receiving discovery
each year of learning you.

Sincere Cliches for Elul

2009-08-31T00:17:00.000-07:00

you and I, God
are one in the same
and complete strangers

soulmates and magnets repelling
a chromosome of spirit separates
an everblooming seed

eternally and simultaneously
potential and completion
accompanied and alone

you and I, God
need each other
to recognize ourselves

23 Headlines and a Cartoon Bubble

2009-08-24T20:29:00.000-07:00

hoping this new rush pans out
US fights the clock
easier said than done

tax idea gaining weight
art hits new heights
is latest curse to check in

a gift and how
we might pay for it
in the gun-selling business

justices weigh major shift
stir up rough seas
attack killer rapist

mired in fear
yes, in theory
a record of safety worries

voters' fingers cut off
secret burials reported
chief slams release

militant lays down arms
shifts tactics
would-be assassin is freed

network fears crackdown
poisoning sparks investigation
okay, pull the plug

Spirit Lust

2009-08-23T23:09:00.000-07:00

(from the collection Wanton Psalms)

I only want to

rub my heart

and rifle through your cards

catch your eyes

in action

slightly more expansive

I seek your face

everywhere

avoiding too loud

in the hope

of hearing your silence

my unrequited spirit lust

searches for a long pause

is that the problem

is my vacuous desire

my human ache

showing too plainly

a sting brings back the purpose

chaos vision

eloquence astounds

meaningless and all that's true

the wonder of how to

embody

a beautiful Hadith

2009-08-18T13:20:00.001-07:00

from the collected oral tradition of Islam, this teaching highlights religious commonality:

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "For the Jews (the day designated by God for communal prayer) was Saturday, and for the Christians it was Sunday. And God turned toward us (Muslims) and guided us to Friday (as the day of communal prayer). In fact, (God) made Friday, Saturday and Sunday (as days of prayer)."

Sahih Muslim, Hadith 417

An Elul Poem

2009-08-18T00:34:00.001-07:00

Back to Work

there I think

of your known elements

and how we will soon begin again--

words unnecessarily split

from meaning and sweet sound

amuse but require

all elements to move--

needs the unseen

unfelt touch

to loose the chord--

your vellum face

over my environment

fades but my eyes

will not forget

nor unfog

I feel and not feel

see and not see

you and not you

--my methods

means and devices

are primitive and paltry

my intention in contrast

shift the mother angle

toward the beloved

with me--I will--

move the elements

I can touch

we will soon begin again