I know there was a moment when everything changed.
When I opened a door and became aware of you.

Since then you hover at the edge of my awareness
like sunlight warming my face, like cinnamon

or etrog peel spicing my senses. What I can't recall
is how it felt to be blind to you, and to hide

even from myself the fact that I was ignoring
love's rhythmic knock on the door of my heart.

How did I not notice I was going through the day
with one eye closed, with half of my self

tied behind my back? Now that I'm awake, I promise
I won't ever choose to go back to sleep.

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; you might also enjoy my collection of Elul poems which arose out of #blogElul a few years ago, now available in print and e-book form as See Me: Elul poems.