Shehecheyanu

We shuffled into the room,
Mimicking our guides in our head;
As if they couldn't read our faces;
Blindly echoing the disheartened cries
Of our predecessors
Until, at last, we saw the light
Emblazoned with wrath for no crime at all.

We instructed our children to hide
Like turtles forced to become hermits
But, they too were moths being escorted
Into the furnace - that pit of no return.
In this, the dawn and dusk of their time,
Always playing hide and seek,
Never to be found again.

We see the trench - that treacherous wasteland
To which we will unwillingly be united.
We squirm, we screech; a shriek, a screech of shrill voices
We have never since meant as we do now
"Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haolam
Shehecheyanu!"

I Want to Belong to the Winds

When I no longer lie on this Earth

And must welcome death into my heart

I shall be taken to a hilltop,

My ashes spread into the four winds

I shall travel North,

North, to the Northiest part of the world

I will travel East

And West

Around the Earth and back again.

I shall travel South,

South beyond the Southern borders I was limited,

Beyond the fear of leaving I had in life.

I will travel as far as the winds can take me

Around and around,

The world my carousel

One man on a journey to find everything.

Careening, dipping, landing where the winds halt

Resuming when they have finished their business

One soul reminiscing on a life that never was

When my journey is over,

The four winds will return me to that hilltop

When that day comes,

I hope you will join me.

We can sit on that graveyard as long as you like.

Even forever.

The Stockholm Summer

Arms wrapped around me – captured my life.
My heart screamed, screeching through my soul.
We jingled off into the distance,
Clinking with every step.

Our room silent, dimly lit
A parade of torrents, our only music.
My life centered around
Our time together.

We danced with fire all around
As passion blazed, engulfing us.
A mere candle could not compare
To the torch of our encampment.

We succumbed, pressured by jungle forces,
Nothing but beasts prowled with us.
Armed with desire,
We braved our battle.

Our lives intermingled,
We counted our days, numbered until the end.
Forcer apart, bittersweet relief flaked
Across our time, our moments, our parting.