To or Toward an Aspiration
from the Vigil series
What are these pieces? A response. I feel the squeeze also — what I can do. A big omg. Trying to make sense. The other night I convened a poetry writing group, one of the participants wrote about what we are doing when we are writing poetry, ars poetica.
I am influenced by one of the members of the circle, he is a punster: arse poetica. Our aspiration our inspiration, aspirare from the Latin: to breathe. From some of the others, it’s a spiritual response to the challenges . . . sometimes it’s a communication, with whom would you like to speak today? Sometimes I am speaking with Maimonides in the coffee aisle. He is a guide for me. Sometimes I am listening for my beloveds, here and gone. I hear their voices.
This piece? Peace. From the tune we sing on Friday night: Shalom Aleikhem, checking in with the angels. Always an aspiration, that’s the elusive preposition in the song. I am with James Baldwin on “wholeness” as an aspiration, we need different language. Leave the cliches. To or toward — elusive and honest peace. The song turns on the preposition. Also the language of the Sefat Emet, clever reader of texts and the deep reach within. From Rav Kook, within. Then without.
To/Toward an Aspiration From Shalom Aleikhem The operative part of speech in this blessing is l’ -- Preposition To/toward peace Yearning longing this is our posture We are longing aching yearning for peace Peace of the near and peace of the far Inconsequential you might have thought These modest parts of speech To/toward moving toward Be a preposition for a while Be a conjunction be “and” Be a diacritical point Be a nekudah A dot Be a point of consciousness Now locate that dot of consciousness Within Be within for a while Now be nothing An empty vessel for G*d j/sg From the Sefat Emet on Sukkot