Richard Chess
Kaddish
after Charles Reznikoff
27 Iyar 5763
29 May 2003
Upon
upon the rabbis and upon
the disciples and upon all
the disciples of the disciples and
upon all who study Torah in this place
and in every place, to them
and to you
peace;
upon
who meet men and women
wired to explode
and who sit with professors
ministers, sheikhs, and
the pious multitude in mosque
and chapel and at plenary sessions and
breakout meetings where
delegates from nations gather
to denounce, and on the street
among those who proclaim
Zionist = Nazi Zionism = Apartheid—
upon all who are proselytized or scorned
whose lives are interrupted
on a bus, in a pizzeria
during a sermon or a kiddush luncheon
or in the middle of an in-flight movie—
to them and to you
here in this land of boutiques
and a food bank, mountains
and a river, crosses and a ring of fire
and in every place
on earth and beyond
safety;
upon
in a boardroom, on a conference
call, on the apron
of a pool and on poetry—
descendants of
tenement and cotton mill
today dispersing your wealth like pollen
to seed a maternity wing
and to mature in the form
of a black man entering college
and a documentary
on Vilna
in this place and in every place
your influence is celebrated and feared
to you and to those
yet to achieve power
humility;
upon Israel
and upon their children and upon all the children
of their children, those who disappear
among good people of this earth
and those who thrive
in this place where the Sabbath
table is properly set
and in every place
to them and to you
life.
from
Image, Issue #42, Summer 2004
reprinted in Best American Spiritual Writing 2005,
Houghton Mifflin Company.