fbpx
[additional-authors]
October 28, 2009

Standing on this ground
Always having been
Never haven known
how to admit my woes,
i feel the squish between my toes
wishing myself on the side of right
where serenity abounds
until I land on higher ground.

but there is love here, if I let it be there,
so I welcome
the glare
From the judgment
that’s lifting
Where old paths of justice
are finally shifting
And I’m sifting
through
this mossy shame
Before throwing it away.

Devoted to the aesthetics
of tree trunks and rivers,
Chutes and ladders of a
Rerouted day deliver
Pillars of progression
Filtering lesson after
Lessening the journey
Of one way.

                Take the socks off my feet,
                i would heal the earth,
                but she’s here healing me.
                I am a woman who stands when she’s called,
                threats are a challenge, or mean nothing at all.
                I am a woman of tea cups and listening
                of a candle alight with simplicity that’s glistening.
                beauty is wine, growing deeper with time,
                blessed with a voice to speak, with a song to sing
                and the ability to release what I need not bring,

I’m wholly impressed
by this perfectionist
Choosing to use the most perfect word, Let.
Let the wildebeest come and undress her roar
Let your commandments nourish the love that I thaw,
Let me trust in faith beyond the wounds I bear
Let me be still long enough to feel the air,
Let the truth be sung till we all understand
we have always stood on the promised land.

                    Like the bird on stilts
                    Where what’s the point,
                    Anoint this ground,
                    sisters, anoint.

For natural catastrophes
No longer seem to worry me
my spirit and this song
Are free but joint,

                    take the socks off my feet,
                    i would heal the earth,
                    but she’s healing me.

                     
                        -This Ground,
                  © april 2007 Emily Stern

 

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

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

What Antisemitism Requires of Us

The current Jewish debate cannot end with a choice between fighting antisemites and strengthening Jewish life. Both are necessary, but neither fully answers what this moment requires.

Is History Asking Too Much of Us?

The question for the Jewish people today is not merely whether we believe in the future but whether we are willing to become the kind of people that the future requires.

Rosner’s Domain | Can Israel’s Image Be Fixed?

Israelis view themselves as fighting for survival, just, fair, moral and brave, while the rest of the world sees something else entirely, viewing Israel as a country that has lost its brakes, destabilizing the order and running amok without justification.

Nothing to Fear but Fear

If I toss out a can of baked beans that expired one day earlier for fear of botulism, what do you think goes through my mind when it comes to bears, mountain lions, sharks and rattlesnakes?

The Many-States Solution

As we weigh the benefits and downsides of a potential two-state solution, the unguaranteed but plausible prospect of an unprecedented regional peace should be considered as part of that discussion.

What Can AI Do for Us?

The question is not whether Jewish communities will use AI; they already are. The question is whether we will adopt these tools passively, or shape them deliberately according to Jewish values, Jewish learning, and Jewish responsibility.

The Fearless Democratic Downfall

Democrats are not only endorsing and choosing quasi-Nazis and actual Islamists at the ballot box. They seem to have also adopted their suicidal tendencies.

Jerusalem: A City that Defies Description

For about an hour or two, you’re asked to absorb centuries upon centuries of kings, armies, religions and empires taking turns trying to control the center of the world.

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