Baruch November: Two Poems

The Heat of a Holy Land

I loved you while hiding behind
a column of Aelia Capitolina
that Emperor Hadrian built,

as our furious,
balding rabbi searched
the sandstone halls for us,

as I kissed you hard—
pulled you close by
your wild hazel curls,

so I know what it is
to defy the righteous
in the scolding heat
of a sacred land.

~

For a Few Holy Sparks

Says the Talmud,
Good to heaven and good to man
are the righteous.

I can be good to heaven,
reminding myself G-d
directs all universes
with love, strength, and beauty,
as the kabbalists say.

But there is an old man who always steals
my newspaper from the stoop,
there are smug people who wear happiness
like uniforms of high rank,
there was a slim redhead who never showed
as I waited on Columbus and 96th….

I would like to trade all
these bitter flavors
for a few holy sparks,
a bit of heavy
forgetting, a long kiss
up the side
of my neck before
the pink clouds
of dawn.

Copyright 2023 Baruch November

Baruch November is the author of Bar Mitzvah Dreams (Main Street Rag, 2019). He is an Assistant Professor at Touro College and is Director and Founder of Jewish Advocacy for Culture and Knowledge (JACK).