The Good City [a poem]

Oh the city, it swells,
It swells my heart,
My feet walk and walk
A distance I never knew
And a path I couldn’t have drawn
Out on a map
For the map of my heart
Is found in the city
The city now is reached
But it is not
Because the homeless
Are still less
And my bed is still empty
So I wait patiently
For the one according
To a list
But that list is small
When the rain falls
I put on music
And the music takes me
Away from the bus I ride
The bus I ride on in the front
Because I am white
It’s figurative though
My people group
Suffered as much as the last
And in my class
They speak of a Gd I don’t want
But I know a secret
I talk to that Gd
And He tells me to love
And to love and love
To Love him and to love them
So I give it a try
On that Gd’s time
My watch moves in seconds
And the seventh day
The seventh year is rest
Is Sabbath
And I take one day
I should take the seventh
To rest
To Sabbath
To Avodah
So I do and I breathe easy
While my teachers teach
I have to reteach everything inside
Because I belong to a different life
A different path
A different thought
So I sit in class
And I consider the world’s tongue
But I chose to consider it
Young
And I am young
But I am here to learn
To learn about my people
The ones who were killed
And the ones who killed
I suppose I am guilty of that too
And that same Gd who watched them kill
Has watched me kill
So I will sacrifice myself
For the wrongs I’ve done
The man’s tongue I’ve done
And the girl’s heart I’ve wronged
So find me to forgive
And I will direct you heavenward
Heavenward
That Gd resides
And in my heart
That Gd resides there too
Its free have you heard?
In this city I have learned
To love and be loved in return
Is the greatest thing
So they say
But my Gd said it first
So I know it
And I rest in it
Good city
Teach me

September 1, 2009