Day 338 - Last Night

On this the very last night

The fire shined so very bright

That the night never came back

Never again did the day fade to black

On this our very hope was built

A single wick willing to share the heat

Not to instill some awkward displeasing guilt

But rather to make the world around it more complete

In this vein creation found peace

A sacred echoing and sweet release

Of ages that passed before our days

Filled to the brim with whispers of praise

In this way all the world became one

In the flickering candlelit blessed evening

Reminiscing on the day when it had all begun

With hope in our eyes and beats in our hearts we sing

Day 272 - This I Believe אַנִי מְאֲמִין

This I believe אַנִי מְאֲמִין

I stand for secrets unseen

Moments that fade to deepest gold

Tales, tugging at pens, to be told

From the heart of a holy place

Without regards of religion or race

Bonds that break such boundaries

Completing the unity in communities

Across the world and all around

The sweet, true, filling sound

Of songs that fly in peace

So that horror shall decrease

As צְדָקָה justice strongly thrives

Echoing הַתִקְוָה the hope of our lives

אָנֹכִי מְאֲמִינָה this I believe

Into our hearts joy we shall weave

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Author's Note:

The Hebrew found in this poem is placed beside its English equivalent, each time. However for our non-Hebrew speakers/readers I have a placed below direct translations and transliteration. (in transliteration i = ee)

Also note Hebrew is read from left to write, to accommodate this the poem is posted using a center margin. Both the male and female equivalents were used in Hebrew to state unity in the poem.

אַנִי - I (modern Hebrew) ani

אָנֹכִי - I (anceint Hebrew) anochi

מְאֲמִינָה - believe (female) m'a-minah

מְאֲמִין - believe (male) m'a-min

הַתִקְוָה - the hope (הַ proceeding a word means "the") ha-tikvah

צְדָקָה - charity, (from the core of the word justice) tz'dakah

Finally dedicated to Genesis and BIMA at Brandeis 2010 and especially Shimshon, for his Hebrew help.

~The Poet

Day 174 - Remembering

In the lights too bright for soft eyes

Remember me

In the dark of many a hidden surprise

Remember me

I lived happily true

Remember me

Still I lived close to you

Remember me

I brighten shadows into truth

I remember you

I embody the age of youth

I remember you

I live with joy in my every vein

I remember you

I am set to begin once again

Day 95 - Light Unto the Nations

Light Unto the Nations

Open your hands and bless

All that are shrouded in darkness

Light the wick and watch it burn

Our lives melt together in turn

On this day we remember

What grew from a tiny ember

All those centuries now gone

In our lives they still live on

The tradition of the holiest day

With words we will always say

Rushing from our mouths and heart

Pulling the darkness away and apart

To enlighten all that we can

Igniting the very soul of man