his tired eyes yet sparkled with the love of his craft
a love steeped in awe and fear of its impact
the hunched shoulders hovered o'er each stroke of his pen
a quill dipped in an inkwell lined with holy men
frayed ritual fringes swaying this way and that
humming a wordless melody as a zaydie will do
midst reverie about heavenly angels he's winking at
or recalling a tender moment with his grandson of two
but of a sudden, all's darkness
zaydie's head thuds on his workbench
his lamp extinguished for aye ~
the noble craft of a mensch
June 27, 2020
The Old Scribe Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Craig Cornish
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Notes: The Jewish 'scribe' (sofer) was and is a time-honored profession
'zaydie' is Yiddish for grandfather
a 'mensch' is Yiddish for a person of honor, integrity
No capital letters were used, in order to help convey the
innate modesty of a scribe of holy books.
Categories:
sofer, grandfather, grandson, love, words,
Form: Verse
A river of faith runs deeply through time
flowing dark in ink from carved mountainsides
dipped in fountains held in ancestor’s washed hands.
Each pious sofer kneels, facing the Holy Land.
He leans on the wisdom and shoulders of sages,
passing down their blessed tales through the ages.
Holy words of God recited, all penned with care
upon parchment pristine, never stained or threadbare.
Sacred prayers read by lanterns are solely hand-traced
and perfected with calligraphy practices graced
by love and traditions carried through years shared.
These sanctified scrolls are still delicately prepared
and with devout observation, are opened in temples,
words artfully scribed by faithful rivers in ripples.
Written 6/26/20
Contest – The Old Scribe
Sponsor – Craig Cornish
Categories:
sofer, art, history, religion, writing,
Form: Rhyme