by Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman
Biking home on Orchard Street
With the wind behind me, and Jamaica Pond
Wrinkled and clear beyond the houses,
A peregrine falcon winged down
A feathered grace, gliding on my right.
For a breath, two, we flew side by side.
My grief, of late, has become more precise.
There are worlds
Beyond worlds, the eons will stretch
Over bedrock and magma, blue and green.
There is life and Life and God unending
No matter what we do, where we are.
So I cry for us, for here, for what we know and love
And for the winged, hooved, scaled, wriggling, tender and fierce
Creatures who love it too, and live it.
In tandem with the falcon
Another neighbor
Traveling this beloved and troubled home.
Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman is the Assistant Rabbi for Engagement at Temple Sinai of Brookline. She is a leader in the interfaith climate justice movement. For more information visit www.rabbishoshana.com and www.clergyclimateaction.org.
