NIKEIVAH (FEMALE)
I was not born beauty, too long to look upon
But I was born free
Free from a womb of peace
Into a world of savory
I waited, pressed against the slope of
My mother's back, furrowed across her brow
Soaked in the folds of her cover, clinging to her
Tangles, pressing her bowels with heaviness
Until I moved her, and I came
Such, as I was
Nikeivah.
My mother protests that my cry was
Round as the full moon, yellowed across the sky
Seen, as strong as if heard
But they would not hear me ....
YADA (TO KNOW)
My ish moves like yada in the dark
Slipping silk, a whispered trace, down my spine
Rocking like the belly of a breathing sea
My ish moves like yada
Yada in me
Like wine sipped through betulah rose petaled lips
Dropping ruby to my body, flame to my breasts
Like the tongue of fire mirrored in its dance
Like the rain falls to diamonds in the night
Like tallit, set to breeze --
My ish moves like yada,
Yada ...
For he knew me.
JEW GIRL
I am black as Cochin
Jew as the Nile
A Hebrew of Avraham
Yisrael's child
I have danced with Moshe
Under the stare of Tzipporah
Turned the skirts of Islam
For my brother, next door
I have swam the Sea of China
And knocked upon the answer
Rubbed the belly of Buddha
Yes, I, the spirit dancer
I'm like Nomad, Bedouin
The Gypsy in the Star
Six points to my horizon
To follow me, go far
I'm the Ashkenazim twist
The Falasha in a bottle
An Ethiopian dream
A golden Sephardic saga
I've got Yerushalaym on my mind
Eretz Yisrael is my footing
Mashiach is on my heart
For this Jew is tired of looking
Jew Girl going home.
I COME
Yehuda calls to me Mother
Then say, No, you cant go!
Weighs my flesh, as if it mattered
Can a man discern my soul?
Eretz Yisrael screams for me Mother
Then with knife, pearces like so
Quarters limbs and divides me up
Can a people scattered be whole?
Zion echoes me Mother
Then cries, bounce to and fro
Steady my foot and climb me hither
Can this peak anchor my woe?
The House was built for me Mother
Then husbandman, if he not show
Pull my veil and tear my garment
Can a naked woman be chose?
Y'shua comes for me Mother
Mama? |
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JEW GIRL A SECRET PRAYER From her birth, Nikeivah,
to the finish,
you will walk
with the prayers
and cries
of a girl (yaldah);
speak upon the heart
of a young woman (naarah)
and live the peshurs
of a woman's (ishah) love,
swimming deep
within her passion
for life,
and life no less
than abundantly.
I introduce to you,
Jerusha(Yerusha)
A timeless setting,
a hologram
that will swallow you
whole and take you
helplessly,
deep within
the pages,
again and again.
For true
you will be lost,
and then, found -
- and if you are able,
you will
follow her home. __________________
Available in print
TISHRI 5762 ~
JEW GIRL, A SECRET PRAYER,
COPYRIGHT 5761. Excerpts Inclusive.
Dedicated to the life and memory of
Ofra Haza.
For more information, please e-mail.
Comments are welcome.
For G-d and for Y'israel,
Tanna ~ (Author)
"LEFELACH HARIMON"
As white as the rising moon,
quickly skipping like a young girl,
My heart and spirit are in Her hands ....
Rabbi Shalom Shabazi
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