Under
Stand
But never
Stand
Under
A falling dream
(Or bridge).
A bit standoffish is a Mexican standoff
– Almost like a snob who cannot stand
Anyone or anything without a nose job –
So we only stand on, on what is right
On what is true, and on what is pure.
High standards and higher standings,
A grandstand of standup comics,
Standalone cynics and standstill
Procrastinators
(Also of the stand-ins and sit-outs
Who make up the organism that is
Humanity)
Take a stand
– Of course – but never
Stand a take
That is fake, false, fabricated:
You see, the stands of time may trickle through
The narrow center of the hourglass, but even a pun
Could never throw cold water on that which is
Timeless.
You are standing this day
All of you before G-d
Bond… Eternal Bond:
(What, you think Fleming made it up?)
Coming into the land,
It is time to renew our
Bond, our connection
Our unity and oneness,
With G-d and each other.
Coming into a new reality,
A new place, a new year, it is time
To stand up and stand together –
This day and from this day
To this year and form this
Year to every year…
Time to be standing
All of us before G-d
A Standing (and tall) Order:
Standing before the divine comes in two forms –
Both upright:
1: Standing together because we need each other.
I am incomplete without you; you are incomplete without me:
I need you; you need me – without each other I’d be a detail
Stuck in my own ghettos with my own perspectives, as would you:
We need each other to be whole, one, absolute; we need each other
To do, to be what alone we never could, never would.
2: Standing together because we are each other.
I don’t need you; you don’t need me – I am you, you are me.
We aren’t separate details coming together for a common goal;
We are a complete whole, a soul, perhaps at times residing in
Different homes, different bodies (tell me, is a hand any less
A body part than a foot, even though one wears a glove and
The other a sock?)
And we need to stand together in both of these forms:
If we only had the first then we could remain details in
Our own right without transcending the differences, for
Only by essentially being one can we use each our unique
Gifts to actually implement the unity; if we only had the
Second, we would remain one, essentially, internally, but
Our individual contributions would never be realized and
Felt
It takes a complete effort to reach a complete picture
To reach the highest of all standings –
Life!
I have placed before you
Life and death, blessing and curse
And you shall choose life
And Life it shall be.
A happy and sweet new year!
(How could it ever be otherwise when
We are all standing this day before G-d?)
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.