Met a new friend on a cruise;
We
shared many interests and views.
She
doesn’t live far –
Couple
hours by car –
But
connections are easy to lose.
Yet
she’s great about keeping in touch,
Often
texting with greetings and such,
Then
said she’d be nearby
And
would love to say hi,
Which
I told her we’d like very much.
So
we spent a few hours today
Catching
up in a most pleasant way;
Walked
around and had lunch,
Which
made certain a hunch
That
this friendship might be here to stay.
The graveyard has a spooky gate,
The tombstones spaced behind,
With skeletal remains arranged
That passersby could find.
Some ghosts pop out of windows,
Where they’ll still be at dawn
And you can visit all of this
On my grandchildren’s lawn.
I rarely go to temple,
Though
when New Year comes around,
I
do not feel complete until
I
hear the shofar’s sound.
Some
synagogues stream services;
I
listened for a while,
But
the rabbi’s talk went on and on
And
wasn’t quite my style.
I
turned it off and went to sleep,
Yet
while I calmly drowsed,
A
noise disturbed my slumber
So
I suddenly was roused.
It
was a shofar from the street
And
it was being blown
In
the familiar rhythms
That,
since, childhood, I have known.
My
husband woke up also
To
the blasts, both loud and clear,
Which,
from right below our window,
Wished
the world a sweet new year.
Once a year, we toss our sins
And
then we start out fresh.
I
do it, even though my now-
And-then
beliefs don’t mesh.
Traditions
of the holidays
Are
somehow still retained
Because,
I guess since childhood,
They
are very much ingrained.
Tomorrow,
using pebbles
(Breadcrumbs
can work just as well),
All
my sins will hit the river,
Least
as far as I can tell.
I have an appointment
To
have a tooth yanked.
This
lists pretty high
On
the fears I have ranked.
So,
natch, I am nervous
And
needed a laugh,
Which
has been supplied
By
my better-ish half.
He
told me – “Relax!”
As
I work on my rhyme;
“You
don’t have to leave yet
For
tooth-hurty’s the time!”
