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Poems for Rosh Hashanah
Contributed by Dane Kuttler

And G!d says: "On the first day of the seventh month, you shall turn into yourself and face the ugly. And you shall take accountability by asking forgiveness in specific and repentant ways because the community can only put up with your bullshit for so long. So promise to make different mistakes next year and get on with the business of healing."


And G!d says: "Are you listening? I am hiding all over the place. I do not live in the sky. I go by the name kol d'mama daka - the thin small voice that lives in the echo of every wild cry. You, you are the shofar gadol - the great shout. I live in your softness; I live in the most protected place in you. And if you can hear me, you can hear justice and peace, and they do not sound like lullabies. I may be small, but still: I am terrifying."


And G!d says: "Hear the sounds of the shofar! And if you cannot hear the shofar, if you cannot step foot in the synagogue for whatever reason, then hear what is meant to wake you. Hear: I Can't Breathe, Hear: Black Lives Matter, Hear the cries of refugees, Hear the names of the restless dead. Wake. Stay woke. It is all a shofar."


And G!d says: "And you shall ask yourself: WHO! is my community? and WHO! am I? And what have I done this year that has brought my community closer? And what have I done to put discord and distance into the community? And to WHOM! do I owe apologies? And to WHOM! must I offer forgiveness?"



From Dane Kuttler's The G!d Wrestlers,  The Social Justice Warrior's Guide to the High Holy Days, Sept. 2015
Service Section: Psalms, Poetry & Songs, Prayers for Justice, High Holiday 
Source: Dane Kuttler: https://www.danepoetry.com/

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