The head of the year Marge Piercy The moon is dark tonight, a new moon for a new year. It is hollow and hungers to be full. It is the black zero of beginning. Now you must void yourself of injuries, insults, incursions. Go with empty hands to those you have hurt and make amends. … Continue reading Praying with Fringes 09/10/2016 – forgive the dead year
Tag: Elul
Praying with Fringes 09/09/2016 – As if outside the synagogue we stood on holier ground
from The Book of Life Alicia Suskin Ostriker Integrity unobscured by death Is what we hope for. But to whom should we say Inscribe me in the Book of Life? To whom if not each other To whom if not our damaged children To whom if not our piteous ancestors To whom if not the … Continue reading Praying with Fringes 09/09/2016 – As if outside the synagogue we stood on holier ground
Praying with Fringes 09/08/2016 – neither the end nor the beginning
from Claims Lisa Suhair Majaj I am the woman remembering jasmine, bougainvillea against chipped white stone. I am the farmwife whose cracked hands claim this soil. I am the writer whose blacked-out words are birds’ wings, razored and shortn. I am the lost one who flees, and the lost one returning; I am the dream, … Continue reading Praying with Fringes 09/08/2016 – neither the end nor the beginning
Praying with Fringes 09/07/2016 – We name it the past and drag it behind us
Dark Charms Dorianne Laux Eventually the future shows up everywhere: those burly summers and unslept nights in deep lines and dark splotches, thinning skin. Here's the corner store grown to a condo, the bike reduced to one spinning wheel, the ghost of a dog that used to be, her trail no longer trodden, just a … Continue reading Praying with Fringes 09/07/2016 – We name it the past and drag it behind us
Praying with Fringes 09/06/2016 – I wanted the universe to bend down
I wanted mercy Garrett Hongo I wanted mercy. I wanted the universe to bend down and kiss its own creation, like a parent does to a child just after it's born, as if a pure tenderness were the expression of the world for itself. I wanted to believe that what was not given, could be … Continue reading Praying with Fringes 09/06/2016 – I wanted the universe to bend down
Praying with Fringes 09/05/2016 – In every instant, two gates.
Bees Jane Hirshfield In every instant, two gates. One opens to fragrant paradise, one to hell. Mostly we go through neither. Mostly we nod to our neighbor, lean down to pick up the paper, go back into the house. But the faint cries—ecstasy? horror? Or did you think it the sound of distant bees, making … Continue reading Praying with Fringes 09/05/2016 – In every instant, two gates.
Praying with Fringes 09/04/2016 – realizing forgiveness is hard for the wounded
Surviving Love Linda Gregg I work hard at managing, grateful and spare. I try to forgive all trespasses and give thanks for the desert. Rejoice in being alive here in my simple world. Each evening I walk for an hour, paying attention to real things. The plover sweeping at my face to get me away … Continue reading Praying with Fringes 09/04/2016 – realizing forgiveness is hard for the wounded
Praying with Fringes 09/03/2016 – What if we built a God out of justice
After the Vigil for the Charleston Church Massacre Stevie Edwards Ithaca, NY – June 24, 2015 What if we built a God out of justice. If we prayed for justice to lead our daily actions before scrambled eggs and coffee, if we tithed to justice, dated only people who believed in the right justice, got … Continue reading Praying with Fringes 09/03/2016 – What if we built a God out of justice
Praying with Fringes 09/02/2016 – the day you realize how easily the thread is broken
The House of Belonging David Whyte I awoke this morning in the gold light turning this way and that thinking for a moment it was one day like any other. But the veil had gone from my darkened heart and I thought it must have been the quiet candlelight that filled my room, it must … Continue reading Praying with Fringes 09/02/2016 – the day you realize how easily the thread is broken
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah 