(title in the body of the poem)
And Imam and a Rabbi Walk in the Woods
אימאם ורב מטיילים ביער
إمام وحاخام يتجولان في الغابة
They don’t speak
Why should they
The trees shading
the trail care little
for what they may
say & no one
along their way
asks to see their
hands judging
who has redder
blood stains The
trees don’t judge
Flags of blue and
green are left be-
hind Just leaves
to fly in the soft
breeze displaying
but the colors of
fall They and
their dancing
branches make
the only sounds
No podcasters or
snapchatters or
youtubers or
tik tokkers to
pollute fresh air
Even the Torah
and Quran are
not here left
behind in shuls
and mosques
in the holy cities
their most pre-
sient points not
read just book-
marked for
another day
Inspired by the cover
of a High Holy Day
edition of the Pittsburgh
Jewish Chronicle pub-
lished many years ago.
4 thoughts on "(title in the body of the poem)"
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Interesting poem for several reasons, Lee: the form, obviously, but also the title (non-title?) and not least the content. All memorable.
A beautiful and hopeful piece, Lee. Love the imagery of the leaves in the breeze.
Love the shape of this poem.
“And Imam and a Rabbi Walk in the Woods
אימאם ורב מטיילים ביער
إمام وحاخام يتجولان في الغابة” settled me for the rest of the poem. Love: “who has redder/blood stains”
“dancing/branches make/the only sounds
Yes I agree with all. A beautiful difficult crafting of a holy hopeful piece. Thank you for efforting this and sharing it.
Stunning!