Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Last night I found something I wrote years ago:
One of the most beautiful things
I have ever seen
is not so infrequent;
yet each time,
it moves me so -
I stop to watch the scene
repeat itself yet again.
This morning in 770,
Two chassidim,
in a moment of warmth,
gave each other a tender glet on the cheek.
One, holding the other's face
gently in his wrinkled hands,
placed upon his cheek a kiss
of sweetest tenderness.
I have seen,
in moments of unabashed delight,
chassidim kiss each other squarely on the mouth.
There is no shame in ahavas yisroel,
no implications
no entendres
that engender fear of love,
or blatant affection.
I live in a world
where men laugh together,
adjust each other's tefillin,
chat nakedly in the mikveh,
and kiss,
and this is one of the most beautiful things
that I have ever seen.
Love, Maven @ 
2 Comments:
At 9:27 PM,
Dinosaur Mom said…
I am often struck by the sheer beauty of Hassidim in motion, so this poem makes sense to me. The way they gesture is a wonder to watch. When they embrace it's unaffected, like school girls or old ladies walking with their arms around each others' waists, but entirely masculine.
At 10:33 PM,
Maven said…
it's interesting to hear your perspective on the matter, as a non-jewish person.
i wish i had the word "unaffected" in my mind when i wrote the poem. as i read the words over, i kept thinking that there was a specific idea that i wanted to convey that my words were not doing. i think "unaffected" was exactly it.
Post a Comment
<< Home