What can I give you,
I ask, and you reply
do the work you need to do,

don't hide your light.
Fine, I say; I hear you,
I'm working on that, but

what can I give to you?
Can't I make offerings
to sweeten your day?

I want to scatter
rose petals in your path,
to enrobe you in light.

I want to lay all my words
at your feet, to nourish you
with the work of my hands.

And you just smile.
You know the only gift
I can really offer is love.

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.