Monday, May 21, 2012

The Yonahs

A few years ago, I started writing a story about two different Yonahs from Tana"kh: Yonah the dove, from Noah's Ark, and Yonah the Prophet, more commonly known in English as Jonah. I thought Yonah the dove would have much wisdom for Yonah the Prophet, but I have recently started thinking more about unsettled feelings and thoughts that the dove--as well as the dove-partner it presumably left behind--might have. And I realized that another Yonah should enter the picture: one of the lovers from Shir haShirim (The Song of Songs). The woman is called "yonati", but seeing as doves seem to come in pairs (which poses an interesting question for Yonah the Prophet), I figure that the woman's lover may also be classified as such.

All three share a fleeing, a leaving, a come-and-go relationship. The dove leaves the Ark and comes back, leaves the Ark and comes back, leaves the Ark and never returns. Yonah the Prophet tries to escape God's mission for him with regard to the city of Nineveh. And the lovers in Shir haShirim tear each other's hearts when a brief coyness results in the other's withdrawal.

I want the three to meet. For now, though, a drawing related to the one whom I, for now, label Yonah 2.

Monday, May 14, 2012

West 81st and Columbus, 10:05 p.m.

Light from two streetlamps
yellows small sections of each
curved metal armrest

The roads are still wet enough
that the cars are making rain sounds

People walk by at calmer paces
than during the daytime

Wind catches bits of hair, skirt
while the rest of me sits breathing
because that's all I have to do

Who will share
this God moment

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Tunes on the 2/3 to Brooklyn

Nign 1

|g a b a |g aba |g a b c |d ded |g a b a |g aba |g a b c |d ded |
|d e f d |e gfe |c d edc |c edc |d e f d |e gfe |c d e fe|d cqa | (q=b flat)

Nign 2
Quick.
|----a---d-------|c-ded-c-d---a---|g---c---b-cdc-b-|a--ba-g-a-------| (unfinished)

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Tefillin shel yad

I adjust the scarf on my shoulders
revealing a silent upper arm
A child stares deep into a book
as the nurse prepares the shot
A mother exposes her breast
to an audience of one

When Soap Runs Out

Seven pumps in rapid succession
result in a paltry piece of foam
that barely covers one fingertip.
Come on, soap dispenser,
can't you muster a little more?
Please? For me?