Suggests that
michtam
means
inscribed in stone,
And while I have nothing against Jesuits-
Indeed, I've always thought they think like Talmudists–
This is not the meaning of a
michtam.
. . .
The words of a
michtam
are pure gold
Inscribed with the feather of a turtledove
On parchment from the skins of newborn lambs
Immaculate enough to serve as sacrifices
As the sun goes down on
Hashana Rabba
(With ivory altars, knives of beaten gold)
And one more book of life is sealed for good.
Or perhaps they place their impress on the wax
That seals the book, or other vital messages,
Unless, of course, they're not inscribed at all
But clamor when the sunlight on still waters
Gathers in the willows' fleeting gold
Just before they weep themselves to sleep
Or rise out of the
[ai, [ai, [ai's
I substitute
For a lullaby's forgotten Yiddish lyric
Though most of the children from that noisy world
Who wouldn't go to bed without its golden tune
Have already fallen fast asleep.
SHARONA BEN-TOV
Wristwatch on a Nightstand
-forT P
M.
When sparrows shrill like thawing ice,
and framed panes lighten in the room,
the man turns underneath the bedclothes,
links my fingers to his, and to the scar
where a caress slips faster up his thumb.
Breathing in rhythm's a kind of silence;
a sheet meanders weightless to the floor
his bare leg droops over, knee-deep in sun.
The seconds fall asleep. He's all raised hope,
