Kaddish
a moment exalted
unlike the photograph he wanted that I could not give him
animate bare reflecting
penance
deliverance;
riding the freight train the first time, my face sandblasted burrowing through the volcanic residue, hungry dirty smiling
a moment
different than the capture of a butterfly the taming of a wild horse
the softening of a heart that I could not otherwise decipher;
the succulence of a melon just harvested, fragrant, its juice dripping from my chin
mistress to the seconds between raindrops the sound
before its fall of the tree top breaking
the windplayer's lungs full of air holding unfolding expanding
lust swollen;
largo of Beethoven's c major triple concerto, giving suckle in the evening light
a moment glorified
more than a Sabbath dinner telling someone your name saying
I love you; writing
fetching water building a road
the communal bath temple bells sounding
talking in the dark
the river breaching the walls of my house
burying friends
young Karin soldiers with their machine guns, in our boat on the Salaween river, heading for Burma
yisgadal v'yiskadash
