It is Never Too Late
01/31/2011 01:00:57 PM
The last word has not been spoken
the last sentence has not been writ
the final verdict is not in
It's never too late
to change my mind
my direction
to say "no" to the past
and "yes" to the future
to offer remorse
to ask and give forgiveness
It is never too late
to start all over again
to feel...Read more...
Krieh - Tearing the Cloth
01/31/2011 12:45:59 PM
Why rend the clothes?
So strange to a tradition
that admonishes
not to break or to destroy
It is for the sake of anger
against the unfairness of the world
anger against him or her, God or self?
Is tearing the cloth to give outer expression
to the
tattered soul within?
Or is it a parallelism
the death of a person like the...Read more...
Life and Death
01/31/2011 12:45:58 PM
What is left to be done after the dying is over?
After the earth has covered the grave
the casket lowered
the ribbon cut
the tears shed
the last kaddish recited
the farewells over
the closure formed?
But there is no final closure in death.
Life and death are locked in embrace,
So intimately intertwined that the "Keriah" of the cloth
Read more...
Returning from the Funeral
01/31/2011 12:45:57 PM
How do they leave the funeral?
After the eulogy, after the lowering of the casket
After the earth has been gently dropped upon the grave.
They divide themselves into two rows
to allow the mourners to depart
Then walk slowly towards their cars,
A different gait than before.
A different quietness, a new recognition
of the mortality of their lives
Read more...
Sanctified Mourning
01/31/2011 12:30:59 PM
We have been blessed by God with the breath of life
breathed in us at creation.
The image of God is not far off but near
in our soul.
As we pray daily
God is
the all good whose mercies never fail us
whose wonders are daily with us, evening, morn and noon.
Let the healing power within you give you
strength, courage, comfort and...Read more...
Sculpting Memory
01/31/2011 12:30:58 PM
Memory is our life
Amnesia our death.
Memory is our strength .
Forgetfulness our attrition.
To remember is a mandate
a commandment from within
Memory is no camera
No indiscriminate recording of the past
impartially registered.
Memory is a
searching for a perspective
that will illuminate the...Read more...
Strange Envy
01/31/2011 12:30:57 PM
Envy them
Those who stand bent before the casket
wiping away their tears.
Envy them their memories of
Warm embraces, gentle humour,
birthdays, anniversaries,
joyous meals around the Sabbath
table.
Pity those who cannot cry
whose tears have long been
dried into resignation,
surrendering the promise.
Pity the...Read more...
The Shiva Candle is Lit
01/31/2011 12:30:56 PM
Closer to the grave
The nearness changes us.
Do we think we will live forever?
Speech, acts, gestures
That once enraged seem foolish now.
Before the images of shrouds,
Envies, jealousies,
Sworn vindictiveness
All shrivel into nonsense.
Before the shovel of dirt,
The sound of pebbles on the casket,
The angers and gnawing regrets
Read more...
Where is Grandma?
01/31/2011 12:30:55 PM
The young child asked
"Where is Grandma?"
the adults gasped
Not knowing what to say
Certainly not in the earth
Buried, covered over with soil and small rocks
Certainly not in the heavens
Distant, far off, a fantasy of the imagination.
Much closer than earth, much closer than heaven
Grandma, dear child, is within us all.
In memories...Read more...
The Yahrzeit Glass
01/31/2011 12:30:54 PM
And at the end of the day
After wax is cleansed,
washed out, the plain glass remains.
I recall my grandfather
drinking hot tea from that very glass
a spoon in the glass
to prevent it from cracking from the heat.
The glass will find its place
on the shelves of glasses
indistinguishable from the others.
Using that glass becomes a sacred act
Holiness is not...Read more...
Fri, May 2 2025
4 Iyyar 5785
