Baruch November: Victor “Young” Perez
The Jewish flyweight from Tunisia—
who modeled himself after the Battling Siki,
a boxer from Senegal—
should have died early in the ring,
Baruch November: After Bracha
A blessing for just being able
to arise in early pink-blue light.
A blessing for when lightning veins
a cloud or strikes the oak into flames.
A blessing for when the earth quakes
Baruch November: Self-Portrait with the Baal Shem Tov
Let me fall if I must fall.
The one I will become
will catch me,
said the Baal Shem Tov.
Baruch November: Two Poems
I would like to trade all
these bitter flavors
for a few holy sparks,
a bit of heavy
forgetting, a long kiss
Julie Bruck: The Last Two Jews of Kabul
When his roommate finally expired at eighty,
Zebulon said he was relieved to be rid of Isaak.
The pair had held out in a decaying synagogue
under Mujahedeen, Taliban, Americans, more Taliban.
Baruch November: The Fountain of Light and Forgiveness
Must we mourn ourselves
before our passing?
Baruch November: Dream 12
They tell me it is okay to dance
to this music as we all should
be very modern religious Jews
who need to bust the most modern moves.
Baruch November: St. Louis Park, M.N.
they would ask how it felt
“to be a kike, to taste a baby’s
blood, to kill a savior?”
Baruch November: Beard 7
In its color alone,
my beard is the sun falling upon the evening
and some days
it is chaffing brambles, poison
sumac, creeping red vines everywhere.
Baruch November: Beard 18
The Zohar tells us a beard embodies the 13 attributes of mercy and compassion, yet sometimes I care only about myself. I love the snow in its falling, though, I … Continue reading
Baruch November: Beard 16
Most Hebrew Schools cut the Song of Songs
out of the classrooms.
I would have liked to learn how thighs can be of gold
Baruch November: Summer, Duluth, M.N.
we reel
in crappie after crappie,
laughing at their name
and the ease at which
they are hooked
Baruch November: Our Captain Speaking
hard pretzels curved to the shape
of life’s perilous twists
