Sunrise


    Signs of Sunrise

    Sun glow on the horizon,
    clouds like red coals just above,
    creatures who scurry or gather
    on the surface of earth.


    Morning Blessings

    Why is it,
    upon waking in the morning,
    that three dashes of water
    on the face from
    the nearby brook and
    with a stretch of one hand to the sky,
    the other hand is content
    to touch the knee,
    the belly is happy
    at a campfire
    to have one egg, half
    a potato, some coffee—
    in short, the pit of you just wants to be
    king of the hill in view,
    out of reach
    on the horizon
    under the golden sun.
    Why is it?


    The Power and the Gift

    The power of providential care
    suffuses all of nature.
    Take it;
    take care.
    The whole of all worlds
    is a gift of love.
    Give it;
    give love.


    Young Abraham's Ancient Plea

    In a village courtyard
    my dog and I met
    the statue of a shepherd.
    My dog moved around, moved
    and licked the marble staff
    of that marble shepherd.
    The eyes of the shepherd looked at me
    as if to say:
    "Your dog moves; you can move,
    but I cannot!"
    From the hills beyond I heard the echo
    of an old plea:
    "Aren't you far less constrained
    than a statue?"


    The Visitors

    There once were two men:
    one of certitude,
    one of incertitude.
    The former thought that certitude was positive;
    the latter thought that incertitude was negative.
    Yet they both were such close friends
    that others thought
    they could read each other's minds.
    Fancy that they were two of the three
    who visited Abraham when he was recovering
    at age ninety-nine in Mamre.
    This helps to explain what is needed
    when visiting one who is recovering.


    The Six Cries of Sarah

    Upon hearing that Abraham, his sacrificial knife, and Isaac were missing:
    "Oh Lord G-d, what have you done?
    Abraham, isn't Isaac my son also?
    Isaac, son!
    Oh Lord G-d, take me in place of Isaac
    Oh Abraham, Isaac, I love you both.
    Oh Lord G-d, provide!"


    The Old Lady

    sits alone at the table
    with a teaspoon stirring a single ice cube
    in a glass of hot tea.
    She thrusts and parries
    as the cube turns and dwindles.
    She stares at the glass of warm tea.
    As her wont of late
    when sitting, she falls asleep.
    Under the bare bulb the light
    shines off her hair that is white
    like a blank sheet of paper.
    The sheet of piano music
    that she had been rereading
    flutters quietly
    from her lap
    to the brown tile floor.
    The piece is in the key of F.
    The last chord is F9.
    The last nine words of the song are
    "a simple ice cube in a glass of tea."
    Because the high G of the last chord
    reminds her of a grace note uncompleted
    her sleep is in a state of suspension.
    Her dream is of a smiling shadow from his missing face,
    the face of her dear husband of long ago.
    She wakes with a small start and
    takes a sip of warm tea.


    Choose Life

    Life is so precious,
    if I were in agony
    near the end of my climb,
    I would hang on
    by my fingertips.
    S. Paul Epstein (1896–1986)


    From the Song of Moses
    (Including Pogroms and Holocausts
    up to the Twenty-First Century)


    The Rock, his work is perfect,
    for all his ways are justice,
    a G-d of faithfulness and without iniquity,
    just and right is he.
    As an eagle that stirreth up her nest
    hovers over her young,
    spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them,
    beareth them on her pinions,
    so the Lord alone did lead,
    but He saw that Jeshurun and man forsook the Rock,
    and He said:
    "I will leave my Shechinah but will withdraw my face from them;
    I will see what their end shall be."
    The Rock, just and right is...