Poem: A Jewish Poet

It is hard to be a Jewish poet.
You cannot say things about God
that will offend the disbelievers.
And you always have to remind someone
it wasn’t your people who killed their savior.
And Solomon and David are always laughing
over your shoulder
like a father and son ridiculing the unfavored brother.
And you cannot entice people with the sloping
parts of a woman’s body
because you must always remain pure.
And every day you have to ask yourself why you’re writing
when there is already the one great book.
It is hard to be a Jewish poet.
You cannot say anything about the disbelievers,
which might offend God.

“A Jewish Poet” first appeared in Prairie Schooner.

Yehoshua November is the author of “God’s Optimism,” which was named a finalist for the 2010 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Poetry. November teaches writing at Touro College and Rutgers University.