I've discovered a beautiful poetry collection by Marge Piercy called The Art of Blessing the Day: Poems with a Jewish Theme. I thought I would share a few favorites.
This one would be particularly lovely during a wedding ceremony:
All Lovers Have Secret Names
The day I forget to write
the day I forget to feed the cats
the day I forget to love you
the day I forget your name
and then my own.
Until then I will not cease
this spinning pattern: part weave
of skeins of soft wool to keep
us warm, to clothe our too open
flesh, to decorate us --
and part dance, through woods
where roots trip me, a dance
through meadows of rabbit holes
and old ribs of plowing hidden
under thick grass.
Until then I will whirl
through my ragged days.
Like a spindle, like a dreydl
I will turn in the center
of my intricate weave
spelling your name in my dance
in my weaving, in my work,
your hidden name which
is simply, finally,
love.
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2 comments:
I didn't know Marge Piercy was Jewish!! That kind of makes sense though, now that I think about it. She wrote one of my favorite books: "Gone to Soldiers," a wonderful and almost exhaustive work of WWII from the perspectives of participants in several different countries (she didn't get a grant to do research in Russia, so they are not included). If you haven't read the book, it's worth the time (but a warning--it is a long book).
What a perfect poem for you!! I can see you whirling around in those voluminous Mexican skirts....:-)
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