The areas of open space for the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city outward, one thousand cubits all around.
~ Numbers 35:4
I’m a city boy. I like buildings and things in them.
The infrastructure created to connect them –
sidewalks and funiculars, bridges and
ornate stairways. The skyline created when
building after building is erected so you can
view their ensemble from a distance and
the distinction of a place is revealed.
I’m okay with park spaces too.
Who doesn’t like a good tree
and the story of who planted it
and what happened under it?
And then there’s the vast wilderness
barely kissed by roads.
I was just in Alaska and cities there
are an afterthought, precariously
positioned so you have a place to
hold your possessions while you
trek out into the seemingly infinite
mountains and forests to discover
what the bears have been keeping from us
this whole time.
As much as we’ve built
and the terrible effect it’s had on
the air we breathe and the ability of
the world’s creatures to exist, there is
so much more untouched wilderness.
You could be thousands of miles
from a Starbucks and no one would ever know.
This is the lesson of the Earth we were given.
The open spaces so we can forget where we are.
So we are reminded we are part of this globe,
and not against it. This is what we must maintain
as we borrow this dirt from whoever comes next.
Rick Lupert, a poet, songleader and graphic designer, is the author of 28 books including “God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion.” Find him online at www.JewishPoetry.net
