Bricks Without Straw

This year 

Pharoah has declared

That we must make our bricks 

Without straw!

That we must be happy 

Without truth

That we must be poor

Without healthcare 

That we must be gendered

Without a say

That we must be Black

Without equity

That we must be women

Without choices

That we must be old

Without  help

That we must live

Without housing 

That we must be prepared

Without science

That we must make war

Without conscience 

That we must breathe

Without air

That we must be refugees 

Without asylum

That we must be content 

Without democracy

That we must obey

Without question. 

Moses said to Pharoah,

Let my people go. 

And this year, what do you say?

SAY IT NOW!

This Shabbat, What We Will Do

This Shabbat we will rest from our fears

And exercise our endurance. 

This Shabbat we will use our brains

And ignore the lure of cults and false gods. 

This Shabbat wewill laugh at the schmucks in power

And dance away from their greed and fascism. 

This Shabbat we will reject tempting easy answers 

And embrace doubt and obligation.  

This Shabbat we will pray through the cruelty

And revel in the bravery of love.  

This Shabbat we will welcome the stranger

And defend democracy. 

This Shabbat, this is what we will do. 

Shabbat Shalom 

Amen

Bending The Knee

 

Blessed Was/Is/Will Be,

For the happy memories 

Of myself as

A contrarian

A feminist 

A Jew 

An artist

An annoying woman

I bend the knee 

In gratitude

For who and what I was. 

For the absolute disgust

Brought on

By the oligarchs

The fascists

The opportunists

The racists

The misogynists

I bend the knee  

In gratitude

For who and what I am. 

For the old lady joy I get when

I see the young

Organize

March

Resist

Annoy

Pray

I bend the knee 

In gratitude

For reminding me who and what we will be. 

Amen

Gravy: Happy New Year

 

Whatever this is, now,

Will pass. 

And, sooner rather than later. 

Me, too,

I’ve had my three score and ten. 

The rest is gravy. 

This cup of coffee

This cherry red lipstick

This interesting book

This funny stand up

This prayer for the future—

Gravy.  

It won’t be fun. 

The pain that’s coming

Is coming

But so is the hope.  

That’s gravy, too. 

Happy New Year. 

Why I Light Candles

I loved Hanukkah when I was young:

Eight days of presents, what’s not to like?

But then I grew up.

I lived alone.

Who was I lighting the candles for?

Not me,

I didn’t care.

The Hanukkah menorah was for families

And I don’t have children.

And it’s a fire hazard!

So screw that.

But then I thought

What if I did the Hanukkah thing anyway?

What would it feel like?

So one year I lit the candles every night, for eight nights,

As an interesting experiment.

And every night, each time I struck the match,

I found there was a reason:

I lit the candle as an homage to my childhood.

I lit the candles because if pagans and Christians can celebrate the winter solstice, why shouldn’t I?

I lit the candles because a friend was having a latka party.

I lit the candles because fire is pretty.

I lit the candles because I used to have a crush on Judah Maccabee.

I lit the candles because I get to have Hanukkah even if I don’t have kids.

I lit the candles because, well, it was the seventh night so I lit the candles.                                                                   

I lit the candles because of all the other Jews all over the world lighting candles.

So now

When I need to see 

In the darkest of times,

I light candles.

Brucha At Achat, 

Baruch Atah Echad, 

Bless the One-ness, 

Blessing us

As we encircle time and space with meaning. 

Amen

A Prayer For Change

 

 

Blessed Ha Shleimut,

Holy Wholeness--

 

The shortest day of the year

Implies

The longest day of the year.

 

Finding light in the darkness

Means

There is darkness in the light.

 

When everyone is saying no

Inevitably           

Someone is saying yes.

 

The despair of goodbye    

Assumes

The anticipation of hello.

The stasis of grief  

Gives way to

The freedom of joy.

If there is oppression    

There will be

Relief.

Chaos frightens 

But within lies

Harmony.

 

It will get better,

It will get worse

And then it will change.

Amen

The Ones Who Know

They are the people

Who knew me before

I was disappointing 

Before I failed

Before I changed

Before I got better

Before I got worse. 

They are the people who

Who knew me when 

I was exciting,

When my hair was dark brown

My waist existed

My tits passed the pencil test and

I was in charge. 

They are the people who

Liked me though

I did not like myself. 

I could have been nicer

But I made them laugh

And gave good advice

And I could dance. 

They are the people

Who know me now

And I know them

We know about winning 

And losing 

And who we are now:

It’s love.   

Bless Us, The Ones Who Work

 Bless us, the workers:

Those who grow food,

Those who cook,

Those who clean, 

Those who protect,

Those who teach,

Those who heal,

Those who raise children,

Those who organize,

Those who fix the plumbing,

Those who make art,

Those who build,

Those who distribute goods, 

Those who entertain,

Those who administer,

And those who put themselves in danger

whether out of choice or out of necessity.

 

Bless us, the workers:

May we be paid fairly for our labor,

May we find pleasure in our work,

May we be appreciated for our sacrifices,

May our we receive full credit for our contributions,

May we have room to recover ourselves,

May we have choices throughout our lives,

May we not be sickened or injured in our jobs,

May we be free from sexual harassment,

May we have laughter and pleasure every day,

May we organize ourselves successfully in unions,

May we have time for spiritual exploration,

May we defy racist discrimination,

May we have responsible and ethical leaders,

May we have dignity in our employment

And may we all get enough of what we need, 

whatever that looks like for each one of us.  

Amen