It is the last week of August and in the midst of first real heat wave we have had all summer my thoughts are turning to coming the new year. Next week will bring Rosh Hashanah and the days leading up to Yom Kippur.
I love the rituals of these holidays; the possibility of beginning anew, the chance to make amends, to finish things begun, to let go of things that never quite had their own end.
September has always been the beginning for me, my birthday, back to school, the high holidays all rushing in as we move towards fall.
ROSH HASHANAH
Apples and honey
dipped once, twice,
three times, we can make it a rhyme
make a dance with our hands
a movement of mouths and lips
to embrace sweetness.
Honey spilled on hair and fingertips
honey lingering thick
on our tongues
sweet and substantial
drained from work.
Honey, salt and bread
when you move to a new home,
honey and apples for a new year,
dip once and twice and three times
we submerge in the sticky sweetness,
lick it down to the core.
Later at dusk
we walk to the stream,
take a smooth stone
rub it round in our palms
and toss it to the current.
We empty our pockets
into water and air
setting the old year loose
honey still tasting in our mouths.