Nirtzah 2019

smash the two tablets
 smash the two pills
 smash the two zuzim 
 and let the goat free 
  
 my sweet brother 
 I don’t know how to 
 give you the things you need 
 and my guesses are probably 
 wrong continually 
  
 the mounds of suffering 
 the tabernacle and the store cities 
I am rebuilding continually for you 
or for somebody
who doesn't care what happens in-between
 descending the mountain 
 surprised by what we see
throngs of people 
worshiping and wandering
desert song and family

Hallel 2019

praise the 
most high
that is 
inside 
before i go 
to sleep 
i hear a melody in my head
try to remember 
i made a folder 
in dropbox 
of vampire weekend
that i was going to share with my dad
now i just try to remember
what music he liked
and how many of his records
i have lost already
and on that day 
all the melodies 
will be one

Barech 2019

בשכר נשים צדקניות שהיו באותו הדור נגאלו ישראל ממצרים 
By the merit of the righteous women that generation was worthy to be redeemed from Egypt
Gemara Sotah 11b
 
 Blessings to Shifra
 Blessings to Puah 
 Blessings to Yocheved
 Blessings to Miriam 
 Blessings to Elisheva bat Aminadav 
 Blessings to Batya 
 Blessings to Amah
Blessings to Imah 
Blessings to Grandmommy
Blessings to Auntie Debbie
 Blessings to the daughters of Israel and their mirrors of copper
 Blessings to the waters that will part
for them and for us

Shulchan Orech / Tsafun 2019

if i have not swept off the table
it is because i am waiting to be able 
to have your attention 
without having to mention 
the secret

if i have not seated the guests 
it is because i am waiting for the best
moment to come out with 
what i have been with-
holding

if i am stretching this too long 
and this idea proves wrong 
in the long run 
it's been fun 
to hold on

lean in and I will whisper
i have been honest, sister,
the larger pieces 
have been released
into the Nile 

Korech 2019

from moses between receiving the commandments and seeing the people worship the golden calf

i get 
to the top 
of the 
top 
of the hill 
but it is a little hill 
modest 
like me
the most modest 
of all men

i slip
in a cough drop 
clear my throat
i have an announcement to make: 
i am still hard at work
on the wording

hard at work 
hard at work 
or hardly working. 
climbing to the top. 
hail falling from the sky 
the streets below are all aflame. 
writing on two tablets at a time.
i am at work
with the work 
that has neither beginning 
nor end. 

Marror 2019

In Canada, we used radishes as marror. 
  
      +100 hours music arranged roughly by energy
  
           narrow traditional societal tropes that continue to manipulate and entrap women and limit their choices.
  
  
 In Canada, we paid for the afikomen in cash.
  
      And then, late Wednesday, came news that was both unsurprising and extremely significant: 
  
           Today's poem is A Very Good Dog by Matthew Dickman.
  
  
 In Canada, we drank from Elijah's cup when the kids weren't looking.
  
      Where do I get the authority to say such things? Well I'm a parent. 
  
           Pay to the order of Aaron Rotenberg
  
  
 In Canada we have forgotten about the Paschal Offering. 
  
      Plan your next hour get on the TTC and get real-time vehicle arrival information 
  
           in a state of darkness, pleasant and restful enough for the eyes, and even more, perhaps, for my mind, to which it appeared incomprehensible, without a cause, a matter dark indeed. 

Motzi Matza 2019

I remember 
 going to Tim Horton's with my dad 
 on the way back from Buffalo 
 shopping sprees.
 We would stop off the highway
 and sometimes 
 we would both order 
 bagels with cream cheese.
  
 ***
  
 Both my dad 
 and I ate matza.
Dry, brittle crackery stuff
sometimes with whipped cream cheese.
 That is something 
 we will always share.
  
 Paul suggests 
 making our own,
 flat, but malleable,
 in our ovens.
 A new recipe.

Rachtza 2019

I came from across the Euphrates,
they called me  “other-sider”
 when I arrived.
 I mapped out all the fire hydrants,
 the many-headed beast,
 the noble skeleton of the water god 
 running under the city.
 Crossing bounds daily.
 Crossing bounds daily, 
 running under the city.
 The noble skeleton of the water.
God, the many-headed.
Beast, I. Mapped out all the fire hydrants 
 when I arrived.
They called me  “other-sider”. 
 I came from across the Euphrates.  

Magid 2019

The story is about 
 the hare chase 
 and the hare is never caught.
  
 In every generation 
 they try to catch us
but we are never captured.
  
 The story is that we've shifted
 across borders and language
always remembering
 the order 
 of the rituals 
 when a holiday enters 
 and a Sabbath departs.
  
 The story is
 illustrated 
 in our wrinkles as our arms reach,
the baby squirms, rocking in the basket.

Yachatz 2019

וְיָרְדוּ מֵאָנִיּוֹתֵיהֶם כֹּל תֹּפְשֵׂי מָשׁוֹט מַלָּחִים כֹּל חֹבְלֵי הַיָּם אֶל־הָאָרֶץ יַעֲמֹדוּ׃
And all that handle the oar, The mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, Shall come down from their ships, They shall stand upon the land.
- Ezekiel 27:29

I carry my broken oar,
forget what it's for 
  
 I listen with my broken ear,
 swallow death, ingest fear.
  
The story of the story
is told to the lotus eaters
from behind the tearing veil.

 The breaking is followed by 
the hiding ... 
  
 If I could only say it half as long.