Things which have no limit        in this world or the next:
a parent's tender worry            cartoons in syndication

the world glinting and shattered        hot tea to soothe our sorrows
sunrise following on the heels        of dawn, which follows night

the eggshell blue of autumn sky        this grief: another gun death
the rise and fall of breathing        clock hands ticking forward

two brothers meeting at a grave        their eyes rimmed red from weeping
the silence in between the words        of every mourner's kaddish

the need for simple kindness        on the subway platform
on the broken sidewalk        on the email list-serv

your hand in mine now, warming        my heart cracked clean and opened
the heavens glistening with stars        waves running and returning      

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This poem was inspired obliquely by a lot of different things, among them the passage "these are things which have no limit" which is part of our morning liturgy; news of another school shooting; this week's Torah portion, Chayei Sarah; Hannah Szenes' poem "Eli Eli (halicha l'Caesarea)." (That link goes to a gorgeous Regina Spektor recording of the song in Hebrew; an English translation reads, "My God, my God, I pray that these things never end: the sand and the sea, the rush of the waters, the crash of the heavens, the prayer of the heart.")