fbpx

Flowers on the Mountain: In Honor of Shavuot

[additional-authors]
June 26, 2015

I am glad to have written this

poem of Petunias that are ladies’ names
and Israel inside,
of singing bowls
that are past their songs– riding on the wakes completely still.

If some sort of language were being created as they say– a foreign one known and received
on the top of some mountain with a world
at your feet– sand as alive– people below
as alive as each letter
met in your hands and head– the shapes being
Mathematical and heart felt
Embedded somehow and completely already on the Scribe's slab.

I am a petunia– a higher range of plant medicine
some things unwrap us.

Some things are bigger than We so that I do not have to fit myself smaller
squeezing tears out in order to know That is me. Being born now– discovering the ancient or making the new.

Pink and flat on the surface that it laid upon—
I think it is quite obvious where I lie–
How I can go without

to an over-pouring of an experiential mystery.

A woman returned from Israel, fresh and she asks—“did you do it?
Ever go there?” I- yes- I 

a mystery that is Thine, Israel. Yours, Unique.

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

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

A Bisl Yom Kippur~ Plenty of Regrets

Yom Kippur is admitting our plentiful regrets and summoning and building our inner determination and drive to be better people, regrets, and all.

Expanding the Soul

There is a struggle within us between constriction and expansion, between despair and vitality. Good humor can be a powerful ally against the constriction that suffering creates.

Making Torah More Accessible

The 402-page book is organized around 36 life lessons related to the Book of Genesis, with thoughtful study questions and dozens of responses from respected sources in Jewish thought.

Avi Nesher Fights the Boycott with a Human Story

Making Israeli films is not easy. Budgets are generally small by American standards, and international financing has become increasingly difficult to secure amid the cultural boycott of Israeli cinema.

Knowing Our History

In this time of introspection and rising adversity, let us resolve as American Jews to write our new chapter by better understanding our history.

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