Poem of the Week: 2 September 2011

Shabbat Shalom everyone!

Each week I will post a discovered poem here for you to read, enjoy and comment on.

This week's poem is by David Meltzer. I don't know much about him, but I discovered his poem in the siddur at the synagogue I attend. It says things that have been truly my daily emotional experience for a long time. Tell me what you think of the poem or pose questions. Also, if you have a poem you've discovered, email it to me at poetrylikebread1999@yahoo.com with a brief description of how you discovered it and how it effects you.

Tell them I'm struggling to sing with the angels

Tell them I'm struggling to sing with the angels
who hint at it in black words printed on old paper gold-edged by time.
Tell them I wrestle the mirror every morning.
Tell them I sit here invisible in space;
nose running, coffee cold & bitter.
Tell them I tell them everything
& everything is never enough.
Tell them I'm davening & voices rise up from within to startle children.
Tell them I walk off into the woods to sing.
Tell them I sing loudest next to waterfalls.
Tell them the books get fewer, words go deeper
some take months to get thru.
Tell them there are moments when it's all perfect;
above & below, it's perfect
even in moments in between where sparks in space
(terrible, beautiful sparks in space)
are merely metaphors for the void between
one pore & another.

--David Meltzer