God is like the sun
a light too fierce to face
so choose life
I wander stripped of awe
handless, unable to shape
clay on the still spinning wheel,
having forgotten the melody
even the impulse
to sing
And after Moshe our teacher
had said it all – reviewed and added laws,
rituals practices, once he had exhausted
himself with warnings
that this holy practice
is not an entitlement for favors –
everything depends on how we live,
treat each other, pay attention
Because, eikev, we came
from Egypt and saw
our mothers and fathers
wander and perish,
because we have lived too long
in the storm-tossed deserts,
have not yet seen how any land
might welcome us
with milk and honey.