The Mule Was Our Idea – A poem for Parsha Vayishlach

These are the sons of Tziv’on: Ayah and Anah. It was Anah who discovered how to breed mules in the desert, when he was tending the donkeys for his father Tziv’on. ~ Genesis 36:24

So much innovation has come from the desert.
First, we taught horses and donkeys to love each other
and mules came along, our first system of

transporting goods from place to place.
We made the desert bloom, too. Where once
there was sand, now there are forests.

I still put coins in the blue tin to make more trees
sprout from the heat. Sometimes I get a piece of paper
in America telling me what I did.

We didn’t stop there. Rummikub is ours too.
I know my wife is especially appreciative of that
The Intel chip came from our desert! The one that was

the patriarch of every chip in every computer
we’ve ever used to do all the computing things we do.
It was the Jacob of chips. Maybe the Tziv’on too.

We’ve got advances in medicine, mathematics
and economics – essential contributions that
help power every aspect of our civilization

whose names are so uninteresting
I wouldn’t dare put them in a poem, but
trust me, you’re using them right now.

They’re making your life better.
So quit with all the hate, oh descendants of Edom
and anyone else who harbors a grudge

for reasons no one can really explain.
If you treat us nice we may just upgrade your kitchen –
all smart appliances of course –

It all started with a mule, the original
crossover vehicle, fantastic fuel efficiency!
We’ve got so many ideas left to share.

Rick Lupert, a poet, songleader and graphic designer, is the author of 28 books including “God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion.” Visit him at www.JewishPoetry.net