Poetry by our OZ Community

Lost Virtues: Elul Time to Relocate Them

August/September 2019

AR Eiser

Human Kindness less than overflowing

Humility in short supply,

Gratitude for the miracle that is life, complicated as it is,

Awe for the wonder that launched evolution,

Our besotted species, invasive as it is,

Once a year it is time to reflect, take stock

Find a path of wholesomeness

Renew our connectedness to one another, to nature,

To Ultimate Virtue

Of Which God is a Reflection,

Steady our nerve, our resolve, our courage,

Meeting the challenge with humility, with gratitude, with awe, with love.

Or Zarua Summer Shiva

A R Eiser, July, 2019

This summer some very senior fathers passed

While nearing the century mark,

We gathered to honor them,

Lifting their memories and the spirits

Of their Grieving Daughters,

Who never knew the world without them,

Chanting an ancient tongue that comforted and united us.

We also read meaningful words

And heard the wailing violin

Skillfully evoking the emotions

Of a full life lived,

Now ended but not extinguished.

These men survived the Great War

Adapted to a less exciting life,

Found joy in life’s simple pleasures

Of friendship, of family, of remembrances,

Of dancing, of humor, of telling tales,

Grateful for our community, our culture

And its generational connectedness.

OR ZARUA by Arnie Eiser

Light and Darkness

Sacred and the Profane

We live with both sown in our lives

How is that possible, you ask

I do too,

Without darkness, does light even exist

Does light enlighten or deceive

We are sorely tested in the times we live in,

But isn’t that always the case

Or when wasn’t it so

Take a deep breath and connect

To the Beyond and the Beneath

Find the common core of Humanity

That unites us regardless of the time or place

Breathe it in deeply

With Love and Courage and Hope and

Find those who connect similarly

And Hold them close in your heart.

From our Or Zarua Pre-Pesach Poetry writing workshop, Sunday, April 14, 2019

🌺Reveries of Freedom by Debby Swirsky Sacchetti 🌺

Pre-Pesach 2019

Reveries of freedom...

Sweet, exhilarating movement.

We flow...

Leaping,

Soaring,

Crescendoing in song...

Tapping down softly,

Only to glide upward again.

The dance unfolds...

The mythic journey.

Arrested by the call of reality,

of urgencies,

mortal limitations,

and fears.

We pause...

Take the next step.

Yet we flounder,

cry out,

Searching for our way back,

Yearning once again for the breakthroughs of spring.

The table is set,

The air is sweet.

Rituals of old,

informed by our oneness,

Begin their sacred spell.

We are dancing again at Sinai,

Beloved gathering,

Each with an offering

Together at last.

Unexpected is the fervor that celebrates the miracle of life.