With my heart in my hands
I approach the bench.

No: my heart
is in your hands.

You read me
like a book:

what I've said
and left unsaid

where I stumbled
over my own tangles

and where I shone
like the light of creation.

Only one thing do I ask,
this alone do I seek:

let me dwell
in your house, in your heart.

Please don't ever
hide your face from me.

The final three stanzas are references to psalm 27, the psalm which tradition invites us to read daily at this season.

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.) Read #blogElul posts via the Elul tag; last year's posts are now available in print and e-book form as See Me: Elul poems.