Standing at the edge

 

1.

In Reb Shlomo's parable

the rabbi stands at the edge

of a sea of tears

and refuses heaven

until all are shed.

You have drifted on that sea,

trailed your fingers

in its salt waters

wondering why no one on shore

notices you're gone.

 

2.

The fear says

if you open the porthole

Noah's own floods will pour through

towering like a ziggurat

and wash you away.

And others, innocent.

They might be caught

in the raging waters.

You can't warn them

to build an ark in time.

3.

The problem is (you explain)

you don't trust intuition.

Your dream guide replies

where do you think

the poems come from?

You've spent a life

thinking you had only two eyes.

Now you realize: that's

what that extra tender spot

is for. Press, and tears well up.

 

4.

Take up paleontologists' tools,

tiny pick and fine brush.

Watch the ancient skeleton emerge.

Imagine the impact

which made this impression.

As many times as necessary

tell yourself

no matter how far you dig

you won't burst the capstone

on the primordial seas.

 

5.

Turn a corner, you're

a beginner again.

Relearn how to shore

yourself up, build

a path you can trust will hold.

You want to believe

you can turn emotion's flood

into living waters

from which you'll emerge whole,

dazzling like the sun.

 

This poem arises out of the confluence of this week's Torah portion (Noach) and several conversations. The first section makes reference to a story which Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach used to tell. Re: "primordial seas" in the fourth stanza: in antiquity, it was believed that the earth was suspended between two seas, the waters above and the waters below. (You can see a reflection of that view in the opening lines of Bereshit.)

I would love to see this poem illustrated with accompanying images. I have some photographs which I think might suit, but not one for each section, and I think if one were going to do it, one would want five images. Or maybe this could become a short videopoem. One way or another, I think this poem is particularly ripe for visual (re)interpretation. Perhaps this is a good time to reiterate that I'm always open to remix and transformative work; all I ask is that you let me know if you've used one of my poems as a jumping-off point for creating something new.