You demand our rejoicing
even as the days grow shorter
and the air around us grows cold.
You command us to build our fragile homes
on this hard ground even as
the winds of change pick up around us
and yes once more we will obey.

We will dutifully scour the heavens
through the green of freshly cut boughs.
We will look into the far reaching
corners of your creation.
We will seek out the hidden place
where gladness and jubilation abide
in eternity.

Once more we will sing our
desperate songs of praise,
sending the words of our psalms
through broken ceilings
that look to us like nothing more
than the tattered and torn wings
of the Shechinah.

We will plant our seeds
deep in the dormant ground,  
and patiently await the rain
you promise to shower down upon us
and we will hold you to your word:

that one day very soon
those who sow in tears
we will reap their harvest
in abundant joy.

Tishrei 16 5785