Alone
Follow the fragile voice
if you have time
before work, to the holy bench
or, pass
as you hurry on your way
It’s up to you
but you have not come for a sermon
down here
friend, this poem is living witness to
the same ineffable
turning oceans to
waves of grass,
of every star hung
in the early morning sky
asking
Who made this world to suffer
The other day, an orchid’s petals became a beloved
memory
lit by the sunset
made your eyes redden
when life has rolled its stone
in your heart
until you shut out the pain
try to remember
when you were waiting awhile
for One who lights the way
with rabbi’s soft shoes falling upward
remember
when lips won’t intone a single blessing
I say
let prayer become your form
let it shed your tears, dry them
shoulder a burden, your child’s
lightning in the car this morning
prompting your thunderbolt — as if you were a god
broken promises
in silence
facing east, unafraid
you are the reflection
of the unspeakable
love of all
that is all
pausing in the doorway
between now
and the moment when
you step inside.
****
Eric Silverman‘s poetry has appeared twice before in Numinous Magazine. In February, his work ‘Escalators’ will be published in ‘Red River Review,’ and he was selected this past November as a first time reader at ‘Writing WIthout Walls,’ a San Francisco poetry venue that is available online.
