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Avodah

A person wearing a kittel and a white tallit and clasping the tallit at their chest
 
he gathers from each              a fear
 
                                                        a fruit
 
                                                        a plea
 
                                                        a potato
 
passed with sweaty palms to him
 
their eyes dare not raise above his pomegranate hem
 
he gathers               their cries
 
                                    their wood
 
                                    anything that might be gold
 
goes inside
 
balancing on one foot
 
and washing the other
 
                                careful with the shoulder clasps
 
                                layers of linen flat on his chest
 
                                the heavy jeweled vest
 
                                meld to his flesh
 
the basket’s burden is much more than its weight
 
in four layers of white
 
shuffling slowly Inward
 
a trembling ankle rope tethers him
 
but brings no comfort —
 
they cannot save him
 
to say the Name and live another day
 
is to seal the People for another year
 
he shuffles slowly, serving
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