Poem: Each In Their Image

A poem written for Pride Shabbat, 2025

Each In Their Image

A square peg in a round hole
But I’m a triangle
A crying angel
stuck 
between falling and flying
Faster and faster until
The thrill of flying forces
Abandonment of the fear of falling

At 40 I finally found my calling

I am all the patriarchs.
— And —
I am all the matriarchs.
In the image of the divine,
All identities are mine.

The mother of nations
I am Sarah’s laughter
Sparking joy in all who hear me
And I am Isaac’s enduring sacrifice
Made from his same dust and Light
I wrestled with the Divine
The burning bush spoke to me
And celebrating freedom
I am Miriam dancing on the shores
But I am even more.

I am the soldiers as the waves crash down
I am Haman, and the Serpent
I am Delilah, seductively seeking secrets

I hold the key and the lock
I am the door and the window

Still, I wrestle with the divine, endlessly.
Light outshines Light, 
Shadows stand no chance
When I embrace my might.
Mind, body and spirit;
Morning, noon and night.

We are all made in the image of the Omniscient.
We all have an inner Light, and a blackout shade.
So the best of us and the worst of us,
Share the same spark.

Flickering green for good
Or green with envy.
Red in rage, or red for love.
Every conflict is commonly complex
Because we are both solution 
And solvent; obstacle and path.

All of us question
And all of us answer
And the truth is with us somehow
Humanity’s existence is not binary
With fades and blends, from ancient to now
They and them, he and she, all from Thou

From age-old battle, biblical war
Through the generations forming today’s lore
Some say ‘from the river to the sea
Without a thought of what that does to me
As one of Am Yisrael
And some say ‘Jews will not replace us’
Flames illuminating their faces
And we see: hate is real

But whether we’re between the sea and river,
Or in the wilderness beyond.
There is no replacement, for we are all.
Even the antagonists. The settlers.
I am each and every one of them,
A peaceful pacifist, a sergeant of the army.
I am them and they are me

And so are you.
A divinely royal we.

The joker and the professor,
The priest, as well as the confessor.
The active. The disengaged.
The contented. The enraged.

We are from everything
All One, shaped for infinite sizes
Whether we like it or not
We fly to and fall from the same spot.
Despite our feelings on the theme
All of us: made b’tzelem Elohim.