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New Jewish Poems

Don't stop! The most popular and best Jewish poems are below this new poems list.

Message To My Jewish Brother by johnson, edward
Jewish Rite of Passage by Robinson Jr., Freddie
my Jewish friends by hansen, jan oskar
The Greatest Jewish Man by johnson, randy
The Paradox Of The Jewish Youth by Mumo, Hannington
The Old Jewish couple by hansen, jan oskar
Jewish Arbor Day by Anish, Matthew
Anoterh Jewish Baseball Star by Anish, Matthew
Jewish Rhythmic Elemental summoning Dance Music by Tunk, Billy
Jewish Limerick by Pettit, Robert

View all new Jewish Poems

The Best Jewish Poems

Details | Jewish Poem |

Oh Jerusalem

Remember

Israel of three thousand years
expulsed at times
enslaved by the Romans
gassed by Europe
persecuted by Saudi-Arabia
murdered by Iran and Iraq
shackled by Egypt
attacked by Jordan
robbed by Syria
sold out by the UK
bombed by the IRA
slandered with spit by Turkish terrorists
sent to the Siberian gulags in Russia
comrades they are not
evicted from many many lands

Battles house by house
street by street
once friendly neighbors
each calling the other traitor
a bloody war where no side
would retreat
by prophecy they won

Wrestling God
the twelve tribes returned
to the land of the Israelites
to their promised land
from sand they made gardens
from the desert they grew grapes
where terror reigns they
made an oasis

Anti Zionism still slithers
belly dancers selling their deceptions
naked harlots forever spew latent hate
evil men whisper, dead jew, dead jew
sadly, uneducated views saturate
seductively selling their false peace
like a woman's second hand virginity

They only hate, and dream of blood
if only, if only we had another flood
Noah would leave them all at shore
harlots, by any other name are simply
the devils horses

Israel was
Israel is
Israel shall forever be
the Middle East's democracy
and graciously
the custodian of all of us
a religious trinity

Gods chosen
their glorious capital
Jerusalem!

Details | Jewish Poem |

Paint A Picture Black and Gray

Pull out the easel
   set the canvas positioned long and slender clean slate.
Sketch the figures huddled and dark bound hostage
   to charcoal cooled coals etching images;
Faceless entities slipping in and out the background
   earth toned sojourners accepting, alone, quiet, dying;
Still the images in silence
   hard and disfigured grotesque horrors in place;
Somber soul drained eyes skeletal
   socket holes buried in the heart;
Let tears fall down their cheeks
   in wonder, awe and fear of what happens next.
Acrylic primers dilute the wash in the story line
   flaking and cracking each soul and truth;
Polyptych blended burnish bleeds 
   quiet, soft exuding whimpered cries,
Chiaroscuro collages of death from life
   fading to diluent breaths of an unholy  silence;
Graded gouache monochrome scraper boards
  releasing sfumatos of singular communal lives sacrificed
Varnish the final rendition to camouflage
  the actuality of what it represents
Time immemorial in genocide atrocities
  of Native Americans, Cambodians, Hawaiians, 
     Jews, Rwandans, Bosnia, Darfur,.
When does it stop?
  Life is more precious then this
      until change comes
Paint the Picture Black and Gray
      and pray then act.




For The Seeker - My take on the Holocaust 10/11/2016

Details | Jewish Poem |

SMILE AT A MUSLIM

These are just a few words about reality,
as Muslims struggle each day with individuality.

What is a Muslim and from whence does he come?
Like you and me, he is born into the world. because of two someone's.

Many of us grew up knowing prejudice in life,
I was gangly, naive, ever given to strife.

Raised as a Christian I never knew what it meant,
As my Muslim friend, how people could vent. 

My younger years were spent playing baseball you see,
They were a team of Puerto Ricans, not one Muslim to be.

My Polish heritage was always the butt of a joke,
It was infinitely small, compared to a Muslim's yoke.

My parent's generation was prejudiced in mind,
To Blacks, and Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Hispanics and people of all kind.
 
I, being naive, never even recognized the strife,
to which these peoples had been subjected to in life.

From experience I learned to treat each person individually,
slowly finding out that that was how they treated me.

Oh, I can say I've met both good and bad,
and the underlying theme is all so sad.

For it seems that we put labels to people like cans of beans,
stick them on a shelf, never tasting their means.

But once you open that can and taste the fare,
you may very well find yourself going back there.

We have our share of detractors in this world of our choice,
but Muslims are not the ones against whom we should give voice.

They are as decent, hard working, and loving as you or me.
They only want what is best for their family.

I pray to my Christian God for Muslims though they know it not,
because they are people that He has not forgot.

Words between man and God are private you see,
that is what connects man to his Deity.

But in every society there is always some remark made aloud,
about how this group or that group has no right to be allowed.

What, I wonder, gives them the right to speak that thought?
Unless it was the freedoms for which this country fought.

And I am sure that the Muslims fought with us too,
so they could have an American dream or two.

So, I think I'll stay in my own naive little way,
and keep those prejudices well at bay.

I won't care whether the next person is Red or Yellow, Black or White,
I won't care if he's Hindu or Christian, Jewish or Zen on sight.

Yes, I'll like the next Muslim I see,
I'm going to smile at them, and I bet they smile back at me!

Details | Jewish Poem |

THEY DON'T KNOW

I walk in a busy street, happy faces everywhere
Coats buttoned tight against the cold,
Stomachs full, warm shoes on their feet.
They don't know.

My grandparents limped through the streets
Cold, starving, wearing tattered coats.
Barefoot in Germany in winter, for a crime of birth
Convicted by fear, jealousy and hate.

It is autumn, and all around me the colors explode
As if a giant splattered paint from his brush
On the landscape, his canvass, until sated.
He didn't know.

My family endured colorless years 
The only hue the yellow stars they were forced to wear
To mark each as something less than a person,
Exempt from even the most basic human rights.

There's a chill in the air this time of year
Smoke billows from the chimneys of dozens of homes
And bonfires litter the neighborhood like cinders
They don't know

My mother can't see a chimney without crying
Reminders of the chimneys at the camp
Where her friends, relatives and nameless Jews
Were released as grey smoke to hover and signal release.

Everyday I see people covered in tattoos.
Tattoo shops pop up offering expensive artwork
Anywhere on the body, some covering every inch.
They don't know.

My mother had a tattoo way before they were popular.
She did not choose it -- it was forced upon her by her jailers.
A number tattooed in black on the inside of her arm
Her only hope of being identified if she survived.

The children born today have choices,
And must never allow a "Holocaust" again;
Choices to wear, eat, watch, think, and love what and who they want.
Make sure they know.

Details | Jewish Poem |

Another Day Before Nightfall

Pen to paper
So no tears today
Monday back to slavery 
I cast my out my lline
Hoping for a bite from a female fish
Do you not see what is meant by love ? 
Do you not see what is meant by peace?
Shalom is where its at, friends 
SHALOM IS WHERE IT IS AT!

Details | Jewish Poem |

THE I AM apocalpse

I did behold the vision
one like a daughter of man
singing before the armies of heaven

I did hear what the seven thunders said
said they put on your war robe LORD and go
then go and cleanse the earth with your sword








Lewis Nyaga

Details | Jewish Poem |

Auschwitz -Pleiades A


                                        All those not fit to be
                                        Are filled with Zyklon B

                                        Anti-Christ like covens
                                        Atomize with ovens

                                        At the gate, words to see
                                        "'Arbeit' will set you free"

                                        Adolf's atrocities

                                 
                     ("Arbeit" is the 2-syllable German word for "work")
                          
                          Written in the Pleiades "A" form on 9/24/16
                                    (Finally posted on 1/16/17)

Details | Jewish Poem |

Message To My Jewish Brother

Satan is destroying your graveyards
And defacing your Synagogues
Now you remember that
You are black too

Details | Jewish Poem |

Psalm 137:5, Not Forgotten

Psalm 137:5—Not Forgotten

Psalm 137:5  If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
                   let my right hand forget its skill!
Psalm 137:6  Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
                   if I do not remember you,
                   if I do not set Jerusalem
                   above my highest joy! (ESV)	

On May 14, 1948
The United Nations
Approved the proclamation
Declaring,
The “Independent State of Israel.”

Seventy years later;
Monday, May, 14, 2018:
It is written in the history books;
“Oh Jerusalem, we did not forget you!”
Jerusalem, is recognized 
As the capital of Israel,
With the establishment of 
The American Embassy
In the City of David;
By the 45th. President—Donald J. Trump
Of the most powerful country
In the world;
The United States of America.

Details | Jewish Poem |

The Jerusalem War Between Boys

The soldiers said
That the boy threw a grenade.
The parents of the boy said
That the soldiers planned to kill him.
This is what happens

When one person
Believes that another person
Is but an animal,
And not human.
People will self-fulfill as animal

And it’s much easier to kill
An animal,
Especially when you are an animal.
So, this is what really happened that day-
Both sides were right.

The boy walked down the street,
Before dawn, and saw the soldiers,
Who were walking on egg shells
With fear and expectation,
(Of course, they were mere boys themselves).

When the boy saw them look his way,
He reached into his basket
And threw a fresh egg
In their direction.
The boy’s face had just a split second

To crack a small smile
Before the bullet
Shattered his face
And skull
And the soldier

Was left with egg on his face
As well, but unfortunately,
Just a split second after he fired the shot.
So, eggs are grenades.
Boys are killers.

And that is when the **** crows
Between boys
In a Jerusalem morning.

Details | Jewish Poem |

My People, The People Of Israel

My people, the people of Israel
I had not forgotten you,
I think of you often,
No, I have not become more religious,
But my love for you has only increased.
When we meet jew and a jew we feel something for each other .
The spark of Israel is in all of us like a match that went off.
The love even if we just met there is love in the air, a smile, a grin, a warmth
It feels like your face is blushing.
It's an unwritten word, usually we ask a bit about each other
where are you from?
where are you parent from?
Are you Ashkanasi jew or are you a Sephadaric Jew
I'm half- half like the what you put in your coffee
How did your family survive the Holocaust?
The Russian pogroms, few understand, unless you are a jew.
With history that traverse time
We go way back to the land of Israel,
with our rich history our Heros Moses, Abraham, Joshua. Joseph.
The bible we are called the people of the book and sometimes we like to call ourselves Hebrews instead of jews.
They are the fathers of our faith, it runs though us this commonality, in our veins
We have what binds us in a simple restaurant eating hummus or other Jews delights,
oh yes, we have our food our language we are a people,
we have our culture, our traditions, our own language that we resurrected from miles in time
the lighting of the Friday night candle to bring in the Saturday Sabbath our the day of rest.
Everyone in the restaurant feels the same, it is in the air, perhaps,
God is still watching out over his people.
It's like nothing in the world,
Hear Oh Israel, we are the your people and we are still here.
I'm but a lonely Jew seeking your warmth
The warmth of the ages.
the warmth owed to us for all the pain mankind has bestowed upon us just for being what we were born into
I have a Jewish wife now
She converted, her father was a Jew, it means a lot
Her name is Rachel Lea, a good solid Hebrew name
Her real name is Deborah and that is Jewish it means running water
Like the Native Americans, we too have our ancestral names
My Jewish name is Mordachi I have not whispered it to anyone in many years,
Yes Mordachi the old Jew

By Marc Acrich

Details | Jewish Poem |

HOW DO YOU DO

Well, my father was a farmer, just chickens and cows
When it came to raisin' 'em, he really knew how
To milk those bovines for all they were worth
And to keep those chickens from wrasslin' in the dirt
                  ~ Uh-huh  

But the Lord must have had it in bad for my dad
'Cuz one summer he lost near all that he had--
   Cows got sick and chickens died
   Mom ran off with another man, 'n he cried--
Seemed to me like the whole damned world gone mad. 

Then dad took ill 'n was a-fixin' to die
One night he gave out a shriek and a cry
Sayin,' "C'mere, son, there's somethin' you oughta know
   Before I go."
  
He said, "Son, we ain't talked religion and such
But it's my job to tell you some int'resting news
And here it is:
   "YOU ARE A JEW!"
  "HOW DO YOU DO?!"

Well, my paw was finished, so he up and died
And I turned pale from shock and surprise
All'us thought I was Christian, like everyone else I knew
   
So I vowed I'd get even with my paw some day
When we'd meet in heaven, there'd be hell to pay 
     ~ or maybe in some place in-between...
 
...A few years passed and I got sick of the farm,
of the cows and the smell and the flies in the barn
So I packed my bag and took a plane to Gan Shmu'el--
                     ISRAEL--
   to find out all I could about be-in' a Jew
                  ~ Uh-huh
 
Joined the army, and shot off my gun 
Had a load of fun helpin' Israel win 
   ~ another dangerous war
 
I was right at home with Bibi and Avigdor 
Livin' in a country I felt was worth fightin' for--
   Til one day when the enemy stuck a knife in my heart
 
Well, I bled a little, and I bled a lot
And knowin' that this life's the only one I've got
   ~ I sure was sad to see it slippin' away...
 
Then I flew up to Heaven, in line number seven
When I turned around and stared 
right into the face of my paw
   ~ UP THERE!
   ~ IN HEAVEN!

Well, I turned white as a ghost, but what could I do?
Faster than a fart, and quicker than a poo, I said:
   PAW, HOW DO YOU DO?
   I AM A JEW!
   JUST LIKE YOU!
And my paw said, "Aw shuckins, I'm the lucky 'un
To have a faithful son is life's greatest blessin'

So we started kissin' and a-huggin' and a-carryin' on
For the cameras we were muggin' and a-layin' it on
And I learned that day to be right proud of my paw
  ~ So I up and told him somethin' full of wonder and awe.
      
      I said:
      HEY, PAW!
      HOW DO YOU DO?!
      I'M A -- BORN-AGAIN -- JEW!
      
   ~ May the Good Lord bless me and bless you!!

Details | Jewish Poem |

Immigration

I like immigrants, immigration. Legal immigration, Jane
passionately corrects. Actually my goal is a borderless world.
That's a new idea to her.
Gathering the neighborhood like family.
The men discuss sterilizing welfare mothers. I say You're working
      around the edges,
humanity has exceeded the carrying capacity of the planet,
even those with jobs. And spouses. And houses.
Yet it's an idyll of an early summer evening, new cut grass,
two baseball teams of children playing in it. Safe from Pakistan.
News photos of Muslim refugees, women in blue robes, biblically
carrying children away from holocaust. The fundamentalist army
not far behind, beheading sinners, sure in its righteousness
as the Holy Roman Empire.
                                     Somehow Joel Osteen the evangelist comes up
while talking about how the Catholic Church is irrelevant in North
      America,
even Latin America and Africa are going evangelical.
Izzi likes Osteen, awesome extemporaneous speaker, no teleprompter,
up from bootstraps message and my wife says he's probably Jewish.
No one wants to go there.
Fortunately no one claims the Holocaust never happened or slavery was
      voluntary.
What is the carrying capacity of the planet? Two children have
replacement value. In China is it each couple or each adult that gets
one offspring? As life expectancy and standards rise,
family size diminishes. We draw together into greener, tighter cities
surrounded by farms surrounded by forests.
The children of three monotheistic religions, atheists and agnostics
play in city streets, work farm fields, explore forests, deserts, grasslands,
      space.

Two ancient female poets: Enheduanna and Sappho
are a revelation. The clarity of their complaints:
lost lover, lost city.

Details | Jewish Poem |

The Burning of the Jews

It was a woodcut in our high school history text, Unit 4 Beginnings of the
      Modern World, that so disturbed,
from the Nuremburg Chronicles depicting "the burning of the Jews," flat
      perspective,
faces of the victims among flames, in no particular agony, not especially
      Jewish,
during the Black Death 1/3 of Europe died 1347-1351 alone. Although
you die together you die alone.
                                           Earlier that week
I had attended our 6th grade's performance of Fiddler on the Roof,
at first thinking
Coltrane should have recorded Matchmaker as a bookend to My
      Favorite Things
but as the play darkened
with the town's absorption into the diaspora, democracy
yet unthought of and rule of law a fig leaf for authority
Jasper, who played Zero Mostel, delivered his line well to the effect
you're just doing your jobs while wrecking our lives.

Anyway, nothing like that is happening here, is it?
The gardener planting tomatoes, the gravedigger finding skulls,
there is so much life a little death won't matter.
I'm reading Bloom in the Times, how
anyone who doesn't believe Israel should exist is by definition
      anti-Semitic.
Come to find out, I may fall into that category - not that Israel shouldn't
      exist,
but as a so-called Jewish state
any more than a Muslim or Christian land. To some,
Jewishness is not a religion, it's an ethnicity. You have no problem
with the Swedish state, do you?
Should the Swedes be expected to open their borders to the Finns?

Jasper
was a beautiful ham,
big as Zero.
                  A friend posed
this question: must all states be melting pots like the United States?
I said yes
not because they should but since
it's inevitable. Let labor flow like capital!
I hate when people disagree with me.
I get angry.
When a plate breaks, it asserts another possibility.
America was the last word of the play and brought a tear of pride to my
      eye.

Immigration, exasperating argument re the Other.
How many's more than enough? 9 billion, a rational,
real number that exceeds or
                                       we're convinced
is within the carrying capacity of the planet.
Climate change is the new Black Death.
I like the Amerindian body type and face mixed in with the European,
      African.
The irrepressible economy rolls out reams of logs, ores of elements, bags
      of ice, fields of rice.
Embargo. The moon stares, bare, full of interstellar space.
Better a cold shoulder than a visit from our military.
The crazy Nazis must have felt themselves extraordinarily compassionate
      toward the mother, earth, the goddess, history, or some such
      abstraction and, thus, acted on a fraction of all they did not know.
Selfless soldiers just doing their jobs expanding the border or,
on the other hand, collecting fagots for "the burning of the Jews."

Details | Jewish Poem |

REDNECK SAW A BLACK GIRL

Racial slurs fly in Michigan like footballs. 
I'm not supposed to point the finger at white women,
but white women who enjoy NASCAR, and mass 
quantities of alcohol. can be pretty racists and homophobic, 
This white woman said, "What did God say when he made 
the first black man? "Damn, I burnt one." 

Some people can lighten the mood right before a race-riot
breaks out by telling racists jokes. On the roof 
of a very tall building are four men; one is asian, 
one is mexican, one is black, and the last one is white. 

The asian walks to the ledge and says, 
"This is for all my people" and jumps off the roof.
Next, the mexican walks to the ledge and also says, 
"This is for all my people" and then he jumps off the roof.
Next is the black guy's turn. The black guy walks 
to the ledge and says, "This is for all my people" 
and then throws the white guy off the roof. 

See that's funny. We get really funny things 
because of our differences. We do have to learn 
to laugh, but more importantly appreciate ourselves..
Without color the world would be pretty grey.
This seems pretty obvious, but doesn't stop people
from killing each other. The world wouldn't 
even be grey without color because grey is a color. 

They say the blind can't lead the blind,
which brings me to my next joke.
How do you blindfold a Chinese person? 
Put floss over their eyes. 

I shouldn't have to spell out the obvious, or fight
for tolerance. It's getting late and my eyes 
are turning red from all the jokes. Racism is
really bad comedy. it's like listening to a really bad laugh
that slowly drives a man insane. Don't even get me
started on sexism, which is just a form of stupidity. 

I just don't like stupid people. I don't like when stupid
looks me in the eyes because it's ugly.Racists and sexists 
must have brain cancer or some devastating mental illness,
which causes them to get mad when Mexicans don't mow
the grass or confused when black people don't like fried chicken.

Details | Jewish Poem |

Black Winter

Black Winter


She hid behind veil
The coldness
Her companion
The umbrella her armor

I died
Years before
Her last kiss
In heaven I adore

I shed tears
At my widows pain
In paradise
I go insanely insane

Black widows
Weep in the dark
Dead spies
No one finds, eaten by sharks

Shifting winds
Freezing rains
Snow drops reliving
The survivor’s pain

As she walks down her rue of memories
Umbrella shielding her tormented face
Embracing the coldness, embracing lost fate
Teardrops wipe the history from her case

We never existed us two
When I died under enemy plans
My lover had to flee her fathers land
No one is safe at Palestinian hands

Hatred buried so deep
Hamas bloody knifes never sleep
Child and foe, kill them for the goal
My lover is dead, Arabic beauties lost soul

Israel is the Promised Land

Details | Jewish Poem |

Bright And Morning Star

     BRIGHT AND MORNING STAR
The grace of all He is be with you all
as certain as the end, the promised love
comes quickly as a thief, to bring the fall
of what the world's become, and singing of.

Behold how quickly comes, from Alphas flame;
as naught can end unless it has begun;
the light of one who's called a holy name
will light Jeruselum without the sun.

These words were said--to write--Omega's near.
And all who can will find the narrow way,
as prophesied for all the world to hear,
and then the bride says, come, this is the day.

Those hearing all will come, from near and far,
to Davids' own, a bright and morning star.
© ron wilson aka vee bdosa the doylestown poet

Details | Jewish Poem |

Watching Homer Struggle

Watching Homer struggle
to explain how a god wounded by a mortal
cannot die but may thereafter live with minor pain

and the humor when that god
complains to Jove that His supervision of His daughter
is inadequate and His Love too unconditional

while Diomed (or Tydides)
wreaks havoc on the Trojans and Hector
gives it back (in kind)

anatomically correct descriptions
of spears piercing jawbones and groins
sons without fathers hunting and fishing thereafter

alone. Written
amazingly presciently!
as a metaphor for Vietnam (our war)

forgotten consensually
as this generation slips lazily away
to Hades (on Huck Finn's raft)

where the lights are always blue, gentian actually,
supper's served at 4 and former adversaries
pass the heavy hanging time playing pinochle (and pool).

We're selling the house to pay the taxes.
Pallas Athena wars among the men
from the axle of her chariot

and Venus is injured by Diomed,
standing in the field of battle where she never should have been,
in her adorable hand.

What has this to do with Solomon in jail.
Not the Jewish king, a black American male,
same thing.

Your children can be failed at school and marched to war.
You can be taxed and sent to gaol for the honor of it.
anyone lived in a pretty how town.

We have no obligation
to perform the Iliad or read poems and even Homer
considers Achilles effete (compared to Hector)

and Odysseus is wrong even when he's right.
Therefore, modern man explores
the mathematics of circles in coordinate planes and their tangents

(when) (once) (soon)
the secret of warp speed is discovered
expansion of the species will be limitless and permanent.

Details | Jewish Poem |

Subway Poem

Trains passing by late at night 
depths
Heads home filled with people
Blacks, Hasids and others
(originally published in Poetalk)

Details | Jewish Poem |

Dozakh aur Sharab



  Dozakh aur Sharab.........


Tere laboan ka rang mile ga gulaab mein
Teri nigah e naaz ka  nasha sharaab mein  

Mil jaye gar woh aik baar mujh ko khwaab mein
Rakh doon ga dil ko cheer ke unki janaab mein 

Dozakh mein mil rahi he mujhe peene ki saza
aatish bharak rahi he suboo-e-sharaab mein

Behre tashaffi aaen ge Muhammad e Mustafa
Bakshe gunah jayen ge roz e hisaab mein

Dil ki kitaab band na krna kabhi ay dost,
parhna likha hua he jo  roshan kitab mein

Moosa ko gadriye ki samajh aaee na jo dua,,.
makhmoor tha woh nikhwat e baar e  sawab mein

Du pal ka he suroor jo  rakhe Khuda se dooor
shaitan ka he shor o shar  sharb o sharab  mein

Peeri mein sab ko aati he yaad e khuda hee kion?
he lutf jab ho yaad e khuda bhi shabab mein

by mazHur

Details | Jewish Poem |

Religio Illicita

Misguided forces in our world
seek to reinstate Nero's declaration 
in 64 AD, branding Christianity 
an illegal religion,

not simply to announce it as truth, 
but to make all people everywhere 
believe it- and act on that belief.

Even in our nation, it's working! 
We Christians help push the wagon 
with our narrow, misguided emphasis 
on "Separation of Church & State."

In our effort to keep the Government 
out of the church, we've unwittingly 
brought it in. Government regulation 
is now at ridiculous extremes.

Our children cannot pray in public, 
bibles are banned. God's name is stricken
from songs, prayers, coins. Mustn't pray 
in Jesus' name, this might be offensive.

Christians are despised, persecuted, 
just as prophesied in Nero's day.  
Because America is known as a Christian 
nation, our country is hated, our people 
slaughtered- just as they were in 64 A.D.

*Illegal Religion

Details | Jewish Poem |

Son of David

Oh Joseph, thou son of David
where is the trumpet sound
your mission to proclaim
Where may the words be found

You, like David, are God's servant
freed to serve him without fear
The tender mercy of our God
through your life we see so clear

Son of a king most beloved
protector of the King of Kings
Who can tell what suffering
your obedience to him brings

Does it pain to think of her
Mary, your betrothed, your life
Joseph, thou son of David
fear not to take her as your wife

It is truly of the Spirit
the new life that springs within
and you shall call him Jesus
He will save them from their sin

Understanding, relief, a command
from your dream, the first of three
To visit and redeem his people
you his vessel are to be

Who will tell how you saved him
at Herod’s butcher blade haul
Oh Joseph, thou son of David
will they know you gave your all

cfa © December, 1972

Details | Jewish Poem |

My Love My life My death

Long ago
I died

I wished only 
To suckle from your breast

I dreamed only to hold you
As you would embrace me to rest

I dreamed that love
Would set us both free

You denied me the fairy tale
You robbed your own broken heart

Now, we are both the poorer
The mourning makes us both the sorer

The canary sings when the new morning rings
The sun rises, and a young lovers smile rises

You are there
I am here

The road of one, still has room
Wonder when the cloud will lift the gloom

I have died long ago
No need to breathe on dead old leaves

If only the scar on the heart
Would open up

Only then could the rainbows sing
Letting the sunshine in

The blood would tumble and flood the floor
Flowing right out that heartless door

There I would be in soldier grey
Ready for the battle to make love stay

Into my arms, you would faint
I would stare and unspoken I would paint

The first small kiss you would awake
Open the book, so that verses we could make

Details | Jewish Poem |

For Josh Q On His Bar Mitzvah

1.

Our blessing, our son, our family clown
The cracker of jokes, the soother of strife
Takes it all in, teaches us to slow down
Although he bungee jumped straight into life

Yes, when he’s ready, he can move so quick
But if he’s not, well, grab a comfy chair
His brain might be poised to share his rare wit
But he’ll be with you when he’s fixed his hair

A man among men, our little Mister
A thick slab of Corned Beef, this strapping lad
Hashem sandwiched him between two Sisters
Any lesser guy would be driven mad!

Mazel Tov for attending this milestone
Our young Joshua, how much he has grown!

2.

Our young Joshua, how much he has grown.
A thoughtful, caring, sensitive brother
This charming young gent will ne’er be alone
His big heart always considers others

In negotiation, his mind unfurls
Breaking down walls with the would be rivals
After all, Josh is surrounded by girls
And it’s his brilliant means of survival!

Some must be taught to hold others the door
Blessed is the young lad who intuits
How to be of help, no prompting before
Heart touches the world when you just do it.

Tonight we revel, and give him a lift
Let’s celebrate now our Joshua’s gifts!

3.

Let’s celebrate now our Joshua’s gifts
His freckles, emerald eyes, his quick humor
His ability to mend sibling rifts
Is so much more than an idle rumor.

On the field he excels with glove and bat
In the goal, he’s an unbreachable wall
On the bike he floats, without going splat
Down the slopes he screams, with mostly no falls. 

Some day he will own the finest machine
That has ever been made for the roadway
Poring through Car and Driver magazine
Putting aside money for that big day.

Frugality, prudence, an agile mind
Joshua Quigley, a true and rare find!

4.

Joshua Quigley, a true and rare find
Chap of so much potential, I daresay
A friend genuinely loyal and kind
A mensch, a seriously cool hombre.

So far there has been much laughing and jest
Humor will always be with our Josh Q.
But to mature means passing many tests
He has completed this first one with you

In the world of adults, and that of men
A teenager is only finding his place
So much adventure between now and then
So many challenges for him to face.

With intricate weaving on sacred loom,
Josh’s heart and soul has begun to bloom

5.

Josh’s heart and soul has begun to bloom
Heart and mind have been shaped by the Torah
Your background is ever important to you
Even if Hebrew school seems a bore-ah

To look history in the eye and say
This lesson learned, now I do understand
Never again do we need pass that way.
If for your people you make a firm stand.

If you build your life around those you love
You can look everyone straight in the eye
A man is a hawk, with heart like a dove.
If I am not for them, then who am I?

The toughest tasks yield most heartfelt reward
Embrace your destiny, moving forward.


6.

Embrace your destiny, moving forward.
Become the best Joshua you can be.
Actions and habits will make your reward.
What will it be like? I can’t wait to see!

At times you must fight to keep yourself right
Journey from mind to heart isn’t easy
To hold your deepest values well in sight
Guiding light that will make life most pleasing

And someday I know kind fate will find
That someone who will fill you with joy,
A companion as true and dear as mine
And with luck you will be blessed with a boy!

A wonderful feeling, a joy so sweet
In parents‘ hearts when love and pride meet.

7.

Our blessing, our son, our family clown,
Has stood before you as a man this day
A fella who turns around any frown
Let those who love him help to light his way

A crossing point, growing beyond the boy
Begin the transformation extensive
Leaving behind the childhood games and toys
For newer ones that are more expensive!

The seed of the grown man in him since dawn 
The child will always remain in his heart
Of his family and all he relied on
Even if they are many miles apart.

Foundation of love, we give him our best.
Let’s cheer as our Joshua starts his quest!

Details | Jewish Poem |

Two of Twelve

Ten remain hidden, two thousand years lost. 

Two struck down by bullet, gas, and flame; the ghetto stage one. 
Six million perished before the world ended this crooked crime
Remanent of those lost rose like the cedar in Lebanon, Ezekiel knew best
Twas God who gave men courage; they fought such tyranny, such hate
Twelve mourned for a season while two given back old land
North and south, east, west flock to come home, a great exodus at hand
Two now settled, secure where they stay; diligently searching for those...

Ten remain hidden, two thousand years lost.