Let me borrow a minute
Please lend me your ear
(Not for keeps, don’t worry
Just on loan
With lots of interest
But not the monetary kind)
Let us speak without ears. Let us speak:
Of an ear to a throne, a million-ear,
An ear for music…
Dual is the reality in which we live
(I guess like two ears):
On one ear, we reach to heaven,
On the other, we’re grounded on earth.
Souls masquerading as bodies
In Life’s masked ball.
Earie is the situation; earborne
The flight that is hope.
The song is begun, please give ear:
Give ear o heavens
And I will speak
Blue as clarity, clean like a child,
Fresh clouds, softer than whispers
On a lover’s lip, these are the Heavens,
A place of dreams and dreamers, of
Bright thoughts and brighter eyes,
Ideas plentiful like the stars, shining
Like suns on mirrored seas glittering
But also gold – Wisdom turns it’s wise
Face to the challenge, Understanding
Gives a knowing look, Knowledge has
Been there but always finds that going
Back never gets stale, only aged to perfection,
A flavor and richness more potent, also
More subtle as the skills are honed and
Potentials discovered (if not yet implemented)
The song goes on, perhaps now recorded:
And hear o earth
The words of my mouth
Brown as dirt, heavy and thick, material
A little rough around the edges, hard and
Unforgiving, its lines sharp, its tongue blunt,
These are the Earths, where emotions and
Feelings run free and chaotic, stumbling at
Times, bumbling at others, falling down and
Scraping knees and egos, dirt under nails,
Scraping and uncovering what is below the
Surface but way above the highest plains –
Not the Muse but
The Music
The music of which they stand as testaments;
Timeless creations above and below, who have
Been there when the song was first sung, still when
It was screamed from agonized lips and distorted
Mouths, and will be there when it is sung sweet
Like milk and honey…
The Heavens and the Earths –
If the former is a spiritual then
The latter is a material witness:
Witnesses to the song that is
And the music that will always
B (sharp)
Heavens’ testimony:
My teachings drop like the rain
My utterances flow like the dew
And Earths’:
Like storm winds upon vegetation and
Like raindrops upon blades of grass
From ear to ear
Pierced and looped:
Move to the eardrum beat;
Sway to the ear instruments;
The chimes ear-ring loud and clear –
The Heavens and the Earths
Have given their ear for music;
Let us open ours to hear their
Testimony
Let us listen – and play – to the ultimate
Composition:
The Redemption Song
Mendel Jacobson is a writer, poet and journalist living in Brooklyn. His weekly poetry can be seen at jakeyology.blogspot.com
The words of this author reflect his/her own opinions and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Orthodox Union.