HOPE (ELUL 26)


For the heat-cracked soil of our hearts
to receive gentle rain.

For the winds which fan our blazes
to still themselves.

For the stains on the cobblestones
to be only pomegranate juice.

For every parent to wake joyful
because their child is safe.

For God to be able at last to stop
rending her garments with grief.

In Jewish tradition it is customary to rend one's garments in mourning when a loved one dies. This poem imagines God mourning every unnecessary human death as a human parent would mourn the loss of a child.

I'm participating again this year in #blogElul, an internet-wide carnival of themed posts aimed at waking the heart and soul before the Days of Awe. (Organized by Ima Bima.) You can read last year's and this year's #blogElul posts via the Elul tag; last year's posts are also available, lightly revised, in the print chapbook Elul Reflections.