I pray
though my faith in Yahweh, in any god
who can listen, is severely shattered.
I pray
most often to a Goddess of settling,
Shekhinah, shy volatile spirit of places.
I pray
when in motion:
loping through neighborhoods
weeding
and deadheading
not solely in my plot.
I pray
in accents foreign to my own ears,
after I talk to my depressed son.
I pry
my lips between desire and reprieve, tonguing
phrases that often slip away.
I play
endless games in my
head with my head.
El malei rakhamim, shokhein bam’romim,
hamtzei menukhah nekhonah al kanfei ha-Shekhinah,
I pray
as I am, I learn to greet
others and recreate what faith is.
