The Tattered Tallit Poem by Linda Hepner

Your mind has gone a-journeying,
Your heart follows.
I stood here with my arms upraised,
V for Victory,
Holding above us worlds and years,
Our woven canopy.
It shielded us from blinding light,
The sun, the storms.
The moon.
Each day you took it in your arms
And closed your eyes and kissed its fringe
And spoke Shema, oh God.
But now you've gone a-journeying
And when you left, a fringe
Caught in the door and tore,
And I am bereft a-standing here,
Unravelling.
That canopy's my heart,
The white and blue tallit
That now is rent, fraying,
Unreparable.
The sun dries up my thoughts,
The rain falls through and
Flows down my face,
Unbearable.
My arms are low now,
Like my heart.
Alone I hold it still...
Although it will not float
Or save me in the flood.
At most it is a sinking hope,
A tattered flag.

LRH
In memoriam
1.20.05