Ode to the Potato Pancake

Oh God, my God
of all the gifts You have given me
the potato pancake rises above
all my cherished possessions.

We are a people of the lasting oil
I am a person of the food
fried in the lasting oil. I am want
to put potato in mouth.

Crispy edges, browned so
my heart knows I mean business.
Soft shredded potato texture
on the inside – Egg and flour

even gluten free flour
holds it together without
affecting my whole thing.
Step aside jelly donuts.

You try so hard but
you ain’t potatoes.
You ain’t even small potatoes.
Sour cream and Apple sauce

Oh, praise God for the
combination of those two.
It was a fried potato that convinced
me I should be a believer.

At least for these eight nights.
This, a food from the world yet to come.
We’re crossing through the
gates of righteousness

a fork in our hand –
our cardiologist close behind.
Oh latke, I rededicate myself to you.
You are the miracle.

Los 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 25 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 “The Tokyo-Van Nuys Express” (Poems written in Japan – Ain’t Got No Press, August 2020) and edited the anthologies “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.