These and Those

Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem

Born From a Lightning Bolt

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes

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From my blog:

This poem is inspired by one of my wonderful friends.

Born from a Lightning Bolt

lYou were born from a lightning bolt.

Your life unfolds in storm:
violent here,
crashing there,
silent now
as you wait for the flood.

Your sharp hair
whips at your chin
and the gold in your ears
lights up when the lightning strikes.

You tell me
that blood is blue,
that stars are square,
that girls are glass
and that true love is made of waiting.

You were born from a lightning bolt
and your body is a ball of fire.
Often, another fire licks your fire,
and the explosion is grand
and only a ten-gallon tub of water
can put it out.

Someone found that tub of water
and poured it all over you.

fYour ashes sit and smolder.
They sputter and smoke.
They gasp, alone, behind the door,
and the last drops of water
trickle down the smudged sadness.

But the sun rises
and a piece of glass
in the pile of ash
catches the light
and the scraps of you
that are buried in the ash
burn again
as if struck by lightning.

And the fire is so hot;
the fire is so bright;
full of pain yet full of light,
that I can only wish
that I, too, was born from a lightning bolt,
just like you.

z