You Cannot Think the Book of Life Will Close

October 7, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is ethical behavior in honor of Yom Kippur, which begins at sunset on Oct. 8 and ends at nightfall on Oct. 9.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com .

A poem for Yom Kippur about the difficulty of true repentance:

You cannot think the Book of Life will close.

Opportunity must seem a right.

Most days contain a trace of paradise,

Kindling the hope that God is nice

Instead of just or loving or pure light.

Prepare for what is not what you propose:

Perhaps you think your prayers will suffice,

Unburdening your heart with hunger slight.

Repentance takes much more than you suppose.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/yomkip.html. For more poems for the Jewish High Holy Days, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/yomkippurpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Ethical Behavior

10/7: You Cannot Think the Book of Life Will Close

Would You Know the Tally of Your Time

October 6, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which began this year at sunset on Sept. 29 and ended on the evening of October 1.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com .

A philosophical poem about whether one would really like to know how much evil and good one has done:

Would you know the tally of your time,

The good and bad you’ve caused, the joy and pain?

Or would you not? I know I would not mine,

The number no self-knowledge dare assign,

The weighted roster of the saved and slain.

Would you know the tally of your time?

And would you see that number as a sign

Of your self-worth, a judgment that is plain?

Or would you not? I know I would not mine,

For numbers are like labels that confine

One’s feeling for oneself to pride or shame.

Would you know the tally of your time,

The blunt assessment you cannot refine,

The sum that gives a thousand words one name?

Or would you not? I know I would not mine.

Thank God I can’t! I might my heart resign,

Self-satisfied or full of self-disdain!

Would you know the tally of your time,

Or would you not? I know I would not mine.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/wouldy.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Rosh Hashanah

9/30: Reason Says, of Course, that There’s No Book

10/1: Remember as You Scour Your Soul for Sin

10/2: Repentance Is Quite Different from Regret

10/3: Revelation Strikes You as Absurd

10/4: Revenge Is Often Taken in the Mind

10/5: Ritual Recalls the Revelation

10/6: Would You Know the Tally of Your Time

Ritual Recalls the Revelation

October 5, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which began this year at sunset on Sept. 29 and ended on the evening of October 1.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com .

A poem for Rosh Hashanah about the need for ritual music to sustain revelation:

Ritual recalls the revelation.

Once the eternal enters time, it fades.

So might we sustain it through sensation,

Having melodies to serve as aids.

Hear, O Israel, the ancient words

As song, and savor both the sense and music!

Sing with the bright cadences of birds,

Holiness so sweet you can't refuse it!

A synagogue is sanctified by song,

Nor ought familiar prayers be simply read.

All one's heart is where it must belong,

Here singing with the living and the dead.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/ritual.html. For more poems for the Jewish High Holy Days, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/yomkippurpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Rosh Hashanah

9/30: Reason Says, of Course, that There’s No Book

10/1: Remember as You Scour Your Soul for Sin

10/2: Repentance Is Quite Different from Regret

10/3: Revelation Strikes You as Absurd

10/4: Revenge Is Often Taken in the Mind

10/5: Ritual Recalls the Revelation

Revenge Is Often Taken in the Mind

October 4, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which began this year at sunset on Sept. 29 and ended on the evening of October 1.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com .

A poem for Rosh Hashanah about the need for forgive others if one is to ask for forgiveness for oneself:

Revenge is often taken in the mind.

Open wounds untreated tend to bleed.

Some who else would be both good and kind

Hate others in the thought, if not the deed.

Have mercy, then, upon yourself, and clear

Away the anger twisting you inside,

Sanctifying for the coming year

Heart and spirit, cleansed of pain and pride.

As you ask forgiveness, so forgive,

Nor need you lose your honor with your fury.

All find their just reward in how they live,

Held to account by a less partial jury.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/reveng.html. For more poems for the Jewish High Holy Days, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/yomkippurpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Rosh Hashanah

9/30: Reason Says, of Course, that There’s No Book

10/1: Remember as You Scour Your Soul for Sin

10/2: Repentance Is Quite Different from Regret

10/3: Revelation Strikes You as Absurd

10/4: Revenge Is Often Taken in the Mind

Revelation Strikes You as Absurd

October 3, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which began this year at sunset on Sept. 29 and ended on the evening of October 1.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com .

A poem for Rosh Hashanah about someone who has no faith but still sees value in the Rosh Hashanah service:

Revelation strikes you as absurd,

Out of whack with what you think you know.

Still, you love the beauty of the words,

However much you mind the undertow.

How might you participate in prayer

Absent faith in God? It makes no sense.

Still, the urge to cleanse the soul is there,

However unappealing the pretense.

A world of unsolved mysteries surrounds you,

Nor can you shake the spirit that confounds you,

Aware of truths that cannot be expressed,

Here so beautifully in scripture dressed.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/revel2.html. For more poems for the Jewish High Holy Days, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/yomkippurpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Rosh Hashanah

9/30: Reason Says, of Course, that There’s No Book

10/1: Remember as You Scour Your Soul for Sin

10/2: Repentance Is Quite Different from Regret

10/3: Revelation Strikes You as Absurd

Repentance Is Quite Different from Regret

October 2, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which began this year at sunset on Sept. 29 and ended yesterday evening.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com .

A poem for Rosh Hashanah about the distinction between repentance and regret:

Repentance is quite different from regret.

One can feel regret for many years,

Self-castigating to familiar tears,

Having just the grace not to forget.

However, to repent must mean to change.

After the regret must come the will,

So resolute it conquers every hill,

However much one would reduce its range.

Actions only can forgiveness gain.

No thought alone can treat the inner wound

And save the soul that would remain entombed,

Held hostage by its fear of healing pain.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/repent.html. For more poems for the Jewish High Holy Days, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/yomkippurpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Rosh Hashanah

9/30: Reason Says, of Course, that There’s No Book

10/1: Remember as You Scour Your Soul for Sin

10/2: Repentance Is Quite Different from Regret

Remember as You Scour Your Soul for Sin

October 1, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which began this year at sunset on Sept. 29 and will end this evening.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com .

A poem for Rosh Hashanah about the communal nature of sin:

Remember as you scour your soul for sin,

Opening the doors behind your lies,

Searching every room with ruthless eyes,

However much you see, there's more within.

How might you else then but through faith atone,

Aware not every debt will be repaid,

Suspecting with good cause some were mislaid,

Harboring some that aren't yours alone?

All sins belong to all, as well to you,

Nor can you cleanse yourself in isolation.

All are good or evil in relation,

Having all to pay what debts accrue.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/remem3.html. For more poems for the Jewish High Holy Days, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/yomkippurpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Rosh Hashanah

9/30: Reason Says, of Course, that There’s No Book

10/1: Remember as You Scour Your Soul for Sin