GIVE (ELUL 28)


Another chance. Is that so much
to ask? Give me a do-over.
Let me erase these wild formulae
from the blackboard and write
love letters instead. Hand me
that screwdriver; I want to fix
the things I cobbled together
in haste, the hinges between us
hanging broken. I won't waste
this time. Look how time itself
gleams, every moment a dewdrop
beading the finest of spiderwebs.
Every morning when I open my eyes
I'll shout blessings from the deck.
That my soul enlivens this body
still! I won't take it for granted.
I'll tuck a spoon in my pocket
and taste everywhere you take me.
I'll remember to give compliments.
I'll crease cynicism into quarters
like a battered old roadmap
and throw it away. I'll navigate
by whatever coordinates you give.

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.