Shul Poems | Examples

Searching For An Urban Love

This city has about eight million inhabitants
Surely, one can find some love from these masses
I see the young women with ripped pants
I like the look 
But I'm not 20 anymore
I must deal with the realities of age
This exciting metropolis 
will eat you alive if you are not careful 
Communists, Trumpists, Facists
All out there!
What kind of a woman might I find 
in those ideologies?
The three of them don't offer one much hope!
Tonight I will flick on the television 
The good old fantasy box is very relaxing 
I do try to stay informed 
A gruesome murder not far from where I live
took place last night 
Guess I should count my blessings
Love is something we all seek 
in one way or another
I'll probably go to a reform shul next Friday night 
Perhaps my prayers will be answered! 
One can always look heavenward for answers 
Love will penetrate the core of the urban masses 
There is hope
Which we must cling to, friends 
if we are to survive 
in Gotham 
"Baghdad on the Hudson" 
as O.Henry named it

Inner City Tale

Walking on the streets of the Lower East Side 
I see Hispanic men playing dominoes excitedly 
I see a Chinese woman collecting bottles for sale 
I see Orthodox men walking to shul 
I see children playing in the courtyard 
I feel the poetry rising within me 
So I head to the local hangout 
OST coffee shop 
Order some green tea 
They have a composition 
book called Matthew's Journal 
where I express myself 
just about everyday 
Then I head off to the kosher bakery 
for some humantashen 
which is delicious 
Another day on the Lower East Side 
my turf, my homeland

Another Horror

A man walked into a shul 
where there was a baby being named
Fired a rifle - killed ten worshipping peacefully
Another horror in our land 
When will it end? 
After each horror we 
trot out the platitudes and express shock 
America is a great land in many, many ways
But we have a dark part of our nature 
Which sometimes surfaces into our democracy 
Let the hate stop! 
Let the horrors stop now!
Our land is being undermined
and hope seems a distant dream 
Well, we must persist
We have no choice

Yom Kippur 5779

The holiday has come
The day to atone for one's sins
The rabbi gave a good talk 
about immigration 
It is a terrible thing 
that children are being taken from their parents 
in the U.S.A.
The healing part of the service came 
I was healed from a terrible illness this year 
so went up to the front of the shul 
We all prayed for health 
The singing of the female cantor was terrific
and a young woman accompanied her on piano 
Yom Kippur 5779
I made it to synagogue 
Entered into the house of the Lord!

Postcard Memories

I have worked for a 
     postcard dealer 
  who has since retired from 
the hobby 
   Postcard shows are excellent for the 
nostalgic 
   So is some poetry 
  As a collector 
I have plenty of cards with 
    poems on them 
  They didn't cost much 
       As some rare postcards do 
Having sold articles about the hobby 
   I can walk with my head held high !!
Have not yet written anything 
   like Tolstoy yet 
But I a glad to live in America 
   not Russia 
Where I can go to shul 
    without being hassled - I hope!
As a Tolkien buff 
    well that is another story altogether......

Various Stages of My Litereary Intresests

Passed through a period 
of reading sports novels 
Passed through a Dreiser, Farrell, Malamud, Baldwin 
period 
I am great at dropping names, aren't I ?
I've read a lot of poetry and have published a number of chapbooks 
Once I had 13 poems in a civil rights magazine 
Then I passe through a Tolkien period
and published fan - fic 
and Tolkienesque poetry
After that I returned to Planet earth 
and read "The Rise of David Levinsky" and other novels about the Lower East Side
I sometimes attend a New Age shul 
WHERE THEY READ A POEM AT EVERY SERVICE. 
poetry won't pay the bills 
but it is a good way to socialize
And it often speaks to the heart 
It's not everyone's cup of tea 
Speaking of that 
the Kettle is boiling and 
I'll soon have another cup
and read the Book Review section 
I had two odes published in the New York Times 
last year 
Boasting can be fun!
Especially if you are not wealthy 
like the majority of the world's poets 
and chess players

At a New Age Shul

Letting in light 
    from different 
sources
The New Age Shul 
     continues onward 
Dancing, singing , blessings
   You can dress comfortably there
  I got up and 
danced to the glory 
  of the one before all pretense is useless 
I have travelled to the Holy Land 
Saw the tribute 
to the murdered millions 
    That was a while back in time 
so we can try to forget 
  Hopefully humanity has 
      learned something from it 
Shalom, yes, Shalom

Autumn Reverie

Fall has come 
   and with it the march of the NY Giants 
Dangerous game!
    But the players do it 
for the glory (and the not inconsequential financial rewards)
I will watch the game Sunday 
   on TV
    I have good friends that 
don't like the game 
   But I get thrilled when 
the NY Giants win 
  My uncle met Tiki Barber(of the Giants)
I remember going to an 
   Orthodox shul 
I went to as a youth 
           Someone said "What's the score?" with a smile 
Autumn has arrived

Stragely Enough, Shabbes

After years of alienation 
   from my religion 
  and after having fun on many 
Friday nights at the beach or in a bar 
  Strangely enough, Shabbes has 
come to find a place in my life 
  The singing- and of course  the Shema 
      revitalizes one 
Nothing would happen to me if I 
     didn't go to shul on Friday 
(and sometimes I don't)
    but how could I join in 
the dancing if I wasn't there? 
    I have even travelled to 
the land of Israel - holy spot for 
   the three Abrahamic faiths 
      Strangely enough,Shabbes

Returning To Shul

After many years of enjoying 
    roast beef and provolone sandwiches 
    I now attend shul regularly on Friday nights
Kind of a New Age synagogue 
    It offers women and dancing and singing 
A Catholic friend of mine told me I was "following my bliss" 
    Well, maybe he was right 
I like religion although I do enjoy a good sex magazine now and then 
    C'mon poetic friends out there in the darkness
let us pretend the terrible things we see in the papers 
    would fly out the window

Help - I'M In Love With a Photograph

I have an issue of Playboy's beauties 
Astonishingly sexy looking
Help, I'm in love with a photograph 
I would like to meet her, greet her 
I'm in love with a photograph 
I picked up an issue for 10 bucks 
Help, I'm in love with a photograph 
The news today is not at all good
Help, I'm in love with a photograph 
I should go to shul, not be a fool!
HELP, I'M IN LOVE WITH A PHOTOGRAPH

Stunned

Last night in shul
    I saw a young lady 
completely out of my age range
She could be my daughter 
   maybe even my granddaughter
        But nevertheless 
I couldn't keep my 
     eyes off her
Enslaved by her beauty and youth 
     I march to the tune 
which the celestial powers 
     have laid out for me 
Peace is hard to find!

The President's Speech

The State of the Union’s like being in shul – 
You stand up and sit down or feel like a fool.
Unless you’re Republican, then you stay seated;
That status may change if Obama’s defeated.

The spectacle seems just a little surreal,
For one can’t quite know what the spectators feel.
Despite the applause and the smiles or the pouts,
Most listeners have to admit to some doubts.

The President says that our Union is strong.
Republicans claim that his statement is wrong.
It’s hard to decide what is truth, which are lies,
When both parties are fighting it out for the prize.

If you want my opinion, I claim an exemption –
For part of the time, I watched “Shawshank Redemption.”

Paul's Gone

The music 
          has stopped
 and the piano bench is now 
empty
      He brought the gift 
of music to thousands of youth 
   he also loved the other arts - painting and dance
He cared about oppression and 
had a Jackie Robinson poster on 
  the wall
He went to shul every Yom Kippur 
(although I knew he had his doubts)
He moved up in economic status 
     and he always voted 
    He read about the lousy 
Holocaust in his last years 
    He was a proud mama's boy 
He led choruses in the army 
     So long Paul Anish from your surviving son
          (and he raised two other children 
                  and had a beautiful baby 
die at one)
      He loved poetry especially Wordsworth
He loved his wife of 56 years 
 I hope I can be strong and go on without him
            So long Pesach - So long

Prague

Prague

a living place
and tourists crowd,
the buildings' grace,
I say it loud,
it was preserved.
Kafka's and Golem's 
shadows rest,
at places, gardens 
at their best.
A baroque garden,
stylish green,
and artist's craft 
for all be seen.
Old Jewish Quarter,
synagogues,
the  Altneu Shul,
the tombstones
there,
and crossing Charles Bridge's
cobbled path,
I watched Moldavia's water pass.
A picture,
silently and rare.

• Short Shul Poems
• Famous Shul Poems
• Best Shul Poems
• Read Shul Poems
• Long Shul Poems
• Shul Quotes