Poems about return: one by me

Here is a poem I will be reading aloud this Saturday at Beth Am Synagogue in Baltimore, prompted by our rabbi to think about the topic of return.

The Ingathereds

Even mistakes do what they can

bringing the most of themselves

to the failure fair.

A sweet grimace of misunderstanding

slips from error to error.

An unexploded sun fumbles at the earth with thick rays.

Under a millstone, a mud-swaddled mushroom

ponders its toxin, deeply felt legacy.

Turning, a moon faces its mother

with the homey side, its poxy jewels.