The Redeemer


Storm wind and rain -
Leaves blown from trees
Whirled high and scattered
In a vague white winter sky.
Heard were the winds
Like a low sound forming
In the throat of hills -

Then came a quiet -
And by morning
Soft descended the snow.


Stopped in a day
Life as we knew it -
A new world - a pure light
Met the eyes.

In such a simple yet wondrous way
Like sudden snow
He could come -
Though foretold
He will take us by surprise.

*

Tishah B'Av - 5770


Day after sultry day
With no relief in sight -
Then overnight a wind sprang up -
A cooling mist covered the sky -
And the light that came by morning
Was not the former light.

Clouds - white clouds appeared -
Trees etched longer shadows on stone -
Birds flew swifter to a height -
And in the turn of an instant -
One day had changed a season
By wind and mist and a shaft of light.

*

A New Heaven and a New Earth
 

When summers were mild in the city
It was known to snow in April
Back in the States -
But by May, lawn chairs
Were out on patios, hedges were full
And summer was only a street away.

In Jerusalem a chill wind
Persists in May -
Winds bang the door and toss the trees,
Keeping summer's tyranny
Longer at bay.

Last signs of winter showing in spring -
We are leaping out of exile forever -
No more will stifling heat
The early roses wilt and dry -
When pear-tree blossoms fall this year
Let them fall on a new earth,
And when the white rose opens,
Let it open to a new sky.

*

"Out for Stars"


I thought I'd skip the dawn today
From sitting up late reading Frost -
But are stars a thing to toss away!
Up - my strength - no matter what the cost!

*

Grey November

Summer was a smothering caul
Over life - it nearly strangled the fall -
But its hold is almost over.

And the high white clouds
Of October are here riding the sky
Like slow-moving caravans
Dimming the sun as they go.

Come my love -
Be with me now
These last days left in October -
And if that's too soom,
Be with me in the windy
Leaf-blown days -
Be with me in grey November.

*

The Road to Sedirot

Late afternoon
Our bus left Betar.
Weightless it takes to the road -
Winds smooth and silent
Over the yielding land.
The bus and the road
Belong to each other.
The setting sun illumines
Stones and roadside grasses -
They glow yellow-white
In this strange
Slant of light.
Hills curve the sky
On both sides -
Then one side only
As the bus bends
Into the smooth-flowing road.
I keep my eyes fixed
Low on the ground -
I cannot take them
From a luminous gold light
Pouring over the pale grass.
On our right
The bus leans into wide bands
Of shade in the setting sun -
Only here where the green and white
Road signs point to Hevron
To Zur Hadera
To Gush Kativ
Does the light seem to be coming
From the source of light.

Like one in awe
Discovers a love
Suddenly revealed in the heart,
On the road to Sedirot
I find
I am in love
With the land.