fbpx

Muhammad Ali Adonai – A Poem for Haftarah Vaetchanan by Rick Lupert

Muhammad Ali Adonai - A Poem for Haftarah Vaetchanan by Rick Lupert
[additional-authors]
July 27, 2018
Mohammad Ali Adonai - A Poem for Haftarah Vaetchanan by Rick Lupert

It is easy to confuse the Lord with Muhammad Ali
especially when reading Isaiah’s prose, laid out like
the foretelling of the World Champion’s arrival.

The Lord is the greatest! (I’m paraphrasing)
The wilderness will be straightened out like a
divine highway (my landscape guy would never…)

Every mountain shall be lowered (finally conveniences
for the little guy!) All flesh is grass and all of it shall dry out.
(Sorry vegetarian cows.)

The Lord brings so much reward. (It’s like the lottery
up with this Guy.) He gathers lambs in his bosom.
(Every pet lovers fantasy,)

The Lord’s hand is strong! (All unworthy butts
shall be kicked!) All lands are drops of water
aching for the shelter of a bucket.

All Islands float away like specs of dust!
(We’re not putting Him on the map. He IS
the map!)

He forbids graven images, but will have one
custom made like it’s nothing. Just for fun,
He’ll blow away the trees like they’re straw!

(Learn from this piglets! This story predates yours!)
The Lord is the greatest. Hear him Roar! He’s
number one! He’s number one!


God Wrestler: a poem for every Torah Portion by Rick LupertLos Angeles poet Rick Lupert created the Poetry Super Highway (an online publication and resource for poets), and hosted the Cobalt Cafe weekly poetry reading for almost 21 years. He’s authored 22 collections of poetry, including “God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion“, “I’m a Jew, Are You” (Jewish themed poems) and “Feeding Holy Cats” (Poetry written while a staff member on the first Birthright Israel trip), and most recently “Beautiful Mistakes” (Rothco Press, May 2018) and edited the anthologies “A Poet’s Siddur: Shabbat Evening“,  “Ekphrastia Gone Wild”, “A Poet’s Haggadah”, and “The Night Goes on All Night.” He writes the daily web comic “Cat and Banana” with fellow Los Angeles poet Brendan Constantine. He’s widely published and reads his poetry wherever they let him.

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

Letter from Los Angeles

A Jewish Angeleno looks back several decades and wonders whether the golden age of LA Jewry is behind us.

Dear England: Don’t Cry for Thee Argentina

When England took a 1-0 lead early in the second half, I felt a sense of cosmic justice. Sixty years is a long time. Argentina won it the last time. Maybe it was England’s turn.

The Story This Moment Needs

In this moment of rising antisemitism, I’ve noticed that the way I remember, and retell, my own childhood has changed too.

Capping the Fire Hydrant

For close to 30 years, we forked up whatever we could afford and were happy to do it. It was now time for them to experience the exhilaration of staring at a pile of bills, not knowing where the money would come from.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.