STRENGTHENED
Today’s time tests the spirit, soul,
Mind, and the heart that beats
With the faith that fuels them;_
And like the body’s muscles,
They all grow firmer
With trial testing times:-
God forever renews our strength,
Remaining that ever present help
Needed in troubled testing times:
Never allowing his chosen ones,
To suffer and sojourn in vain:-
I'M A CRICKET
I feel like a cricket
Tucked away in the thicket
But with a brave mindset
to put up new verses
radiating with the rays
Of the sun that rises
in the deep west.
Indeed I'm a cricket,
So uprightly prostrate
Dressed and wingless
but calmly seated
On muscular hind legs
In my weakness strengthened:-
In bravery to escape.
In essence
I feel so great
Blessed with long legs
So hoarse in my long neck
Such a golden voice to envy
As I hop across countries
A sevenling to sing.
To the hell of Theresienstadt transported
all hope for freedom aborted
Rabbi Shmuel Goldin understood what awaited
a life of forced labor now fated
Led into his barracks, which Jews shared with rats
Reb Shmuel sat on his bed, removing his hat
When what caught his eye, but a makeshift sign
which strengthened his faith in his people divine
For on a hidden door as he sat on his bed
these words Shmuel read and reread:
'This is none other than the House of G-d
and this, the Gateway to Heaven.' (Genesis 28:17)
"Surely," he cried, "no Jew may despair
as long as he breathes G-d's holy air.
________________________________________
Based on a story heard from Rabbi Dr. Jonathan
Schwartz, the Rabbi of Congregation Adath Yisroel,
Elizabeth, NJ, youtube.com, 'Unity' - Not Agree-
ment, Parshas Vayetze, Nov. 23, 2023.
As the crows fly
They come to pick out my eyes
Discerned is thy nebulous sight
I must clash with night
The wounded warrior's cry
Essence made to rally this fight
Strengthened is my revived might
The elegy of white,
Outcasts the night
My father`s demise , made me strong,
Faced real hardship,which is not wrong,
Being like a fearless bear,
I soared to great heights before long,
My fame spreads its wings through the throng,
Death did not make me bare.
Using Quote 1:from Jalaluddin Rumi(1207-1273)
When the rose dies it falls open,spreading perfume.You will become
a window for every house .You will be a rose garden in every field.
Olusegun Arowolo
Contest:`RUMI IN RIME COUEE `By Nette Onclaud