The Torah tells me I should not slaughter
an animal on the same day as its parent.
And I tell the Torah
itâs not going to be an
issue for me, and then go to hug my cats
and the fish, and every bird Iâve ever known.
Los Angeles poet Rick Lupert created the Poetry Super Highway (an online publication and resource for poets), and hosted the Cobalt Cafe weekly poetry reading for almost 21 years. Heâs authored 25 collections of poetry, including âGod Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portionâ, âIâm a Jew, Are Youâ (Jewish themed poems) and âFeeding Holy Catsâ (Poetry written while a staff member on the first Birthright Israel trip), and most recently âThe Tokyo-Van Nuys Expressâ (Poems written in Japan â Ainât Got No Press, August 2020) and edited the anthologies âEkphrastia Gone Wildâ, âA Poetâs Haggadahâ, and âThe Night Goes on All Night.â He writes the daily web comic
he is bald. He is clean.
Leviticus 13:40
but let a few decades go by and if the skin
of our heads becomes visible, it becomes a thing.
Industries have arisen to help us deal with
this affliction. Wigs, magic hair dust you can
sprinkle on the vacated areas, expensive surgeries
that will rearrange your hair like when you were young
and spread your broccoli to the far edges of your plate
to make it seem like you made a dent.
We start out as babies and end up looking like babies.
Our hair makes other arrangements
our skin folds over unto itself
Going Steady With the Lord — A poem for Torah Portion Ki Tisa jewishjournal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jewishjournal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Can I Have My Cow Back? â A poem for Torah Portion Mishpatim
If a fire goes forth and finds thornsâ¦
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living above its expectations and
finding what it needs.
for safekeepingâ¦
donkeys with all the trust implied.
Iâve been imagining a safe donkey-shelter
in my backyard for years.
If a person borrows an animal
from his neighborâ¦
level to borrow a cow from
Nancy down the street.
All Iâve been doing, for decades,
is allowing sorceresses to live.
If You must, take me now, Oh God
for this transgression. I just really like
the way they can make things disappear.