You Wonder Whether Fate Is Accidental

 

A poem for Yom Kippur about a congregant who has doubts about the efficacy of prayer but prays out of love for the ritual:

 

You wonder whether fate is accidental,
Or whether this one day a harrowed heart
Might make some difference to a willing God,
Knowing faith is not experimental.
In fact, you know quite well that you don't know
Precisely why you're here, or why today,
Perhaps most out of loyalty, you pray,
Unwilling to let long-loved labors go,
Reciting with true grace the ancient part.

© by Nicholas Gordon

 

Audio and Video Music: If You Close Your Eyes, I’m Still with You. By Late Night Feeling. Music free to use at YouTube. Photo Credit: AI

 

To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/youwon.html. For more poems for the Jewish High Holy Days, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/yomkippurpoems.html .

Rosh Hashanah Opens to the Page

 

A Rosh Hashanah poem about the need for communal atonement:

 

Rosh Hashanah opens to the page
On which is writ, for good or ill, our fate.
Still wrestling with angels, we engage,
Harrowing our hearts, our future state.
However, "we" encompasses us all,
As though we were but droplets in a wave
Suspended on its journey to the shore,
Hard put to any single droplet save.
And so we pray not only for ourselves,
Nor only for our family, friends, or tribe:
All must be our congregation, else
How might we turn to God to turn the tide?

 

© by Nicholas Gordon

 

Audio and Video Music: A Revelation. By Jeremy Blake. Music free to use at YouTube. Illustration Credit: AI

 

To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/roshh2.html. For more poems for the Jewish High Holy Days, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/yomkippurpoems.html .

Adelaide Is Gracious to a Fault

 A name poem for Adelaide about an abused child who grows up with an exaggerated fear of conflict:

 

Adelaide is gracious to a fault,
Desiring harmony more than she does desire.
Each disagreement threatens to turn dire.
Likes and dislikes never leave the vault.
A child of war becomes adept at peace.
Intuitively she skirts the hidden mines,
Determined not to cross long-vanished lines,
Eluding rage long after rage has ceased.

 

© by Nicholas Gordon

 

Audio and Video Music: A Kiss for Amanda. By DJ Williams. Music free to use at YouTube. Photo Credit: AI.

 

To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/adelai.html. For more name poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/namepoems.html .

September Lingers in the Arms of Love

 

A calendar poem for September:

 

September lingers in the arms of love
Even as a certain crispness calls.
Perhaps some fear she's not yet conscious of
Takes messages as she slows down and stalls,
Embracing joys that soon must be entombed.
More frequently, she starts to feel marooned.
Business bustles busily with tasks,
Each answering more questions than it asks,
Reminding her how life can be consumed.

© by Nicholas Gordon

 

Audio and Video Music: Elegy. By Wayne Jones. Music free to use at YouTube. Photo Credit: AI.

 

To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/septem.html. For more calendar poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/calendarpoems.html .

Labor Is a Blessing and a Curse

 

A Labor Day poem about the dignity of labor:

 

Labor is a blessing and a curse,
As one must work to live and live to work.
Better jobs to get up for or worse,
On the whole, with none you'd go berserk.
Remember, then, that dignity requires
Doing, working, laboring -- a role
As giver, as attendant to desires
You recognize within some common soul.

 

© by Nicholas Gordon

 

Audio and Video Music: Maryandra’s Waltz. By Jesse Gallagher. Music free to use at YouTube. Illustration Credit: AI.

 

To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/labori.html. For more Labor Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/labordaypoems.html .