Seventy- Two And Still Counting Poem by Shalom Freedman

I am far from myself this morning
I do not know what to write
My birthday is today
Thank God for seventy- two years in the world-

The three young men kidnapped last week
Are still missing

A warm day in which I woke late
And am moving slowly without fulfilling a plan
Grateful for a visit to my son and his family yesterday
Trying to memorize ‘Felix Randal' again
Thinking about my wife's best friend
Having her first proton- radiation treatments
Wondering about my babysitting duties tomorrow
My wife this morning gave me a Chumash as a present
I had been looking to buy for myself for some time now

Life is a jumble of so many different things
Am I back to myself yet
Talking about myself as I so often do?

I have survived for seventy- two years
Thank God
Thank God for my parents for my family
For so many blessings I have had in my life-

I pray for all our sick friends
And for the safe return of the three kidnapped-

And for a blessed future for Israel
And for Humanity.

Seventy- two and still counting.